


For Better or for Worse

by Lucky_Moony



Series: Domestic Bliss [2]
Category: Victoria (TV)
Genre: Alfred wants a baby of his own, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Annoying Siblings, BIG GAY WEDDING, Baby Paget is here, Bachelor party/Gaylorette shenanigans, Dancing, Dealing with exes, Drunk Drums, Homophobia, Living Together, M/M, Mina is pregnant, More domestic fluff, My Drumfred is going at it like bunnies, Non-Graphic Smut, Partying Alfred, Ridiculous no sex bet, Someone gets punched, Texting, Want fluff? Get fluff!!!!, Wedding Planning, Wedding Reception, fluff with fluff on the side, gender reveal party, pre-wedding jitters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-05-18 23:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 56,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14861967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucky_Moony/pseuds/Lucky_Moony
Summary: The countdown has officially begun! In roughly six months, Alfred Paget and Edward Drummond are going to tie the knot.Alfred is determined to get the big fat wedding of his dreams, while Edward wants everything to be very intimate and formal.As if finding a venue, determining what to wear, and deciding who should feature on their guest list weren’t already enough to deal with, problems from their past come back to haunt them.Will our favorite couple be able to deal with it all and finally get to say 'I do'?





	1. We need to talk about Mina

**Author's Note:**

> You don’t need to have read Simple Rules to Follow to read this story, but it might be easier to understand everything that will be going on in future chapters. 
> 
> In this universe, Wilhelmina is Alfred’s best friend. They bought a house together and she lives upstairs, while Alfred and Edward own the first floor.
> 
> Edward is your typical British strong type with a touch of disaster on the side, while Alfred is a sweetheart and a bit of a drama queen.
> 
> The story starts 2 months after our favorite couple pulled off a glorious plan to get rid of Vincent Leclerc, a nasty co-worker…

          

“Mina! We’re going to be late!” Alfred yelled from the stairwell of their house as he glanced at his watch.

Seeing he got no response from his upstairs neighbour, he closed the door behind him.

Princess followed him around the flat like a shadow as he wolfed down some food. His sweet little puppy barked joyfully as he shared some of his food with her;a habit Edward did not like at all, but how was he supposed to say no to his own daughter?

On Wednesdays, he taught a Zumba class with his good friend Angelina Dacosta. Mina was now going with him (and taking her sweet time to get ready), since she had recently discovered—with utter despair— that she did not fit into some of her summer clothes anymore.

Ernst and Edward weren’t attending the gym as regularly as they used to, but still managed to get there at least once a week. Three weeks ago, the music teacher had offered to pick up Alfred and Mina after their class as he was meeting a friend that lived in the same town earlier that day. When he had discovered the Zumba class was attended by beautiful women in tight sportswear, he became an eager regular too.

Alfred strained to listen to whatever Mina was doing upstairs, but couldn’t figure it out.

Lately, his best friend had been acting out of sorts. He was beginning to wonder if she wasn’t hiding something from him—which would be a first in seven years of intense friendship.

He scribbled down a cute note for Edward for when he’d get home from work, grabbed his bag and his keys, and was about to run upstairs to check on his best friend, when he felt his phone buzz in his back pocket.

Mina at 18.22:

**I’m not feeling well, I’ll skip the class tonight.**

Alf at 18.24:

**What’s wrong? Do you want me to come check on you before I leave? Ernst should be here in about 5 minutes.**

Mina at 18.26:

 **It’s alright. It’s not skipping a class that will have any impact on my waistline. <** **3**

Alf at 18.28:

**Try to rest a bit. Don’t hesitate to yell to my FIANCÉ if you need anything Xxx**

 

He kissed Princess on the head before he closed the front door behind him. As he sat on the porch waiting for Ernst to pick him up, he reflected on his life and what had been going on in the last two months.

As it was now the middle of July, it had already been a month and a half since he had moved downstairs with his fiancé, Edward Drummond.

Edward was now working as an accountant for Charles’ bakery, _Forno di Francatelli_ , which was already becoming a very prosperous business.

Nancy and Charles married at the end of June and were jetting off to Greece for their Honeymoon. Their wedding was stunning, which had inspired Alfred to get started with planning his own.

School was now over and his brother Septimus, who had spent the last month at the flat as their guest, had been asked to go to Brazil to pursue his humanitarian work for another two months.

He had accepted the offer on the condition that this would be the last time he would go there.

True to his word, as soon as his plane had landed in England he had called Mina and the two had gone on various dates. Towards the end of his stay, the two had even slept together.

Alfred knew all of this, because:

1: They lived in the same house.

2: Mina had told him all about it as they were pulling weeds out of the garden in their backyard.

3: It was now obvious the ceiling needed better soundproofing, since both couples could hear what was going on in each other’s bedrooms. Whereas both brothers thought this was hilarious, it made things awkward in the morning for Edward and Mina.

Since Septimus’ departure, Mina had been feeling a bit under the weather, which was understandable to Alfred.

Just the thought of Edward not being at his side for more than two days got under his skin and made him feel as though he was going to faint. He was now so accustomed to his presence that he couldn’t imagine what his life would be if Edward wasn’t there.

Luckily, he did not have to dwell on this too much, since Ernst pulled up in his car and waved at him to get inside.

***

It was almost 7.00 when Edward stumbled back into the flat, where Princess greeted him with a bark. He dropped his bag and looked for his boyfriend at once, when he remembered it was Wednesday. He groaned as he fixed himself something to eat and read Alfred’s cute note—a quote from a poem:

_Your mouth was made for mine. <_ _3_

He felt a delicious warmth spread through his body as thoughts and memories of kissing Alfred—with and without their clothes on— flashed through his mind.

It seemed their love was infinite, and he could never get enough of his adorable lover.

He thought after 8 months of dating things would calm down a bit. Logically, he knew their sexual desire should have peaked by now, but it still wasn’t the case.

Hell, last week Alfred had woken him at ungodly hours three nights in a row just for sex, and it wasn’t because he wasn’t getting any on a regular basis. 

In fact, it seemed the more they kissed and slept together, the more they hungered for each other.

If he could put it into words, Edward would describe himself as being addicted to his boyfriend, like one might be addicted to heroin.

The hunger was insatiable  but Alfred was always more than happy to try...

In fact, it was a good thing he had found a new job before school had ended; otherwise, the two would have probably spent the whole summer doing nothing but each other.

He soon sat down with his plate and a book, while Princess looked at him pleadingly.

He sighed as he gave her some food from his plate. “This is between me and you, Princess. Don’t tell your Papa I did this or he won’t let me live it down.”

Princess seemed happy as she wagged her tail.

 

***

Bae<3 at 21:45:

**Class is over, but Ernst is going on a date-aka he’s sleeping at someone’s. I’ll sleep at Angie’s.**

Edward D. at 21:46:

**Whaaaaat? Again? I thought you were supposed to be here soon.**

**If this continues like this, we’ll need to get a car.**

Bae<3 at 21:50:

**Well at least you’ll get a good night’s sleep...;)**

Edward D. at 21:55:

**It’s not a good night’s sleep if you’re not there to keep me warm ;(**

***

The next day, Alfred was working in his backyard with Princess under the scorching sun for almost two hours. He was taking a break when Mina finally joined him and sat next to him on the grass.

The two had agreed at the end of the school year that they would like to have a nice garden in the yard where they would grow their own vegetables. However, it seemed Septimus’ departure had left Mina with no interest in that lovely project of theirs.

In fact, she seemed to have lost interest in everything.

Alfred had been the one doing most of the work, and it was safe at this point to say that he did not have a green thumb. If at first some of their seeds had sprouted, everything seemed now on the verge of dying.

Well, everything except his little tomato plant. That one was thriving, and it was his pride and joy.

He watered it for the third time in the last hour, before turning to look at his best friend from over the top of his sunglasses.

“I don’t want to break your heart, Mina, but I think at this rate we’ll need to keep getting groceries.”

“Hmmm…”  Mina replied with a shrug as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. She purposely avoided his stare and began to pull on a dandelion.

Alfred frowned at her. “Are you sure everything’s fine? I know you’re sad that Sept had to go away, but he’s not dead, you know.” He patted her on the shoulder before getting up and stretching. “I think I had my dose of gardening for today. Do you want me to get us some _Pimm’s_?”

Mina’s eyes grew wide, as she shook her head energetically. “NO!”  The blond raised an eyebrow at her. “It’s just… I feel a headache coming on.  You know how it is when we drink together… I’ll just get back inside and lie down for a while.”  

He shrugged as she smiled at him strangely, turned around, and went back inside.

He scratched his nose and looked at his puppy, who stared back at him with adoration in her eyes.

“Princess, I think something is wrong with your aunt. Be a good girl and comfort her for a while, will you?”

Princess, like a clever girl, barked at him and quickly followed Mina inside.

***

Alfred  was in the midst of preparing dinner, while Mina was still locked away upstairs with Princess, when he got into the cupboard to find some salt and found one of Edward’s infamous poems, stuck to the salt container.

 

Roses are red,

_Violets are better,_

_I like your butt,_

_Let me touch it forever._

_Xxxx Edward_

He smirked before he put the salt right back where it belonged. It seemed dinner would have to wait for tonight….

***

Finally, Edward was back home. He had had a long day at work, and it had been more than 36 hours since he had last seen his boyfriend—which was way too long, in his opinion.

He looked up over their fence to see if the blond was in the garden, but only spotted Princess walking around the yard. He saw at once that the tomato plant seemed to be on the verge of dying; it was literally swimming in a deep pool of water. He shook his head at Alfred’s inability to take care of plants.

He had already bought three tomato plants since the start of summer—something Alfred was unaware of— and it seemed he would probably need to get a new one if he did not do anything about it soon. Mina had seen him switch the plants once and had rolled her eyes at him but she had kept silent about it.

He was about to call Princess and go rescue the plant when he felt his phone buzz.

Bae<3 at 17h10:

**Just so you know, I can see you looking over the fence.  I found your poem and I’m not wearing any clothes right now…**

He guessed the tomato plant would be able to survive on its own for at least one more hour….

 

***

In the end, the tomato plant vanished from his thoughts for more than two hours.

He had better things to think about anyway, since a naked Alfred was snuggling against his chest after a very intense and toe-curling make-out session. The covers were on the floor and since the sun had begun to set, they could feel a cold breeze on their sweaty skin. He was about to fall asleep when his stomach let out a loud growl. 

“Guess we can’t really live on love and fresh water,” Alfred said as he absentmindedly caressed the outline of Edward’s chest muscles with his left hand.

Edward sighed as he kissed the top of his boyfriend’s head. “Weren’t we supposed to eat with Mina tonight?”

Alfred propped himself on his elbows and looked up at his boyfriend with consternation.

“Gosh, you’re right, I forgot about her. What kind of a best friend am I, anyway?”  Alfred tried to break free from Edward’s embrace but with his messy, sex-tossed hair the blond was quite a sight and Edward tightened his grip on him.  “See what you’re doing to me with your R-rated poetry?  Call for take-out or something while I run upstairs to get her, will you?”

Edward protested as Alfred succeeded in breaking out of his embrace with a lovely kiss that left him breathless and wanting for more, got up and rapidly tried to gather the discarded clothes that had been thrown everywhere around the room. 

He turned around before he left the room and winked seductively at Edward as he pulled his shorts back on.

Edward shook his head and pulled his phone out from his discarded trousers. He was surprised to see it was almost 8.00 and ordered food for the three of them.

***

“Mina, did you forget we were supposed to eat together tonight?” Alfred said as he pushed open his best friend’s unlocked door. He looked around, but saw no sign of her. His old room was now her study, but the lights were out. He scratched his head and wondered if he should just leave, but decided to check her room first.

He looked at the picture of her and Septimus that was on her dresser as he sat on her bed, next to Princess, who was resting with her little head on her left paw.

He could see the faint glow of the restroom’s light from underneath the door and decided to wait for her to come out, when he heard something that sounded suspiciously like a sob.

Alfred’s face scrunched up in worry. He turned the handle of the door; it was unlocked. He was faced at once with the image of a tear-stricken Mina sitting her back against the tub with her knees brought up to her chest.

He rushed to her and put a reassuring arm over her shoulder. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Is this all still about Septimus?”

“I- I just can’t,“ she cried, her face still in her hands.

“I know how you feel. I’m sure Septimus feels the same way and can’t wait to come back to you.” He pulled her closer as she sobbed harder. “Do you want me to sleep upstairs with you for a couple of days?” He wasn’t too keen about it, but if it could make his best friend feel better, he would gladly do so. After all, she had always been there for him when he had needed her the most.

She shook her head as tears began to roll down her cheeks once again.

“Do you want me to get a ginormous cake and some ice cream, too?” he said trying to entice her by willing his eyebrows.

“Alfred, I’m scared.” She avoided his stare once more.

“Of what? You think Sept will come back from Brazil with a new girlfriend? You should know by now the Pagets are a faithful bunch… Well, we all are except my great Uncle Ferdinand, but he always was a bit odd….” 

“No, that’s not it. I… I….” She shook her head before biting her lip.

Alfred frowned at her and sighed. “You what?”

“I… I think I’m pregnant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s it, I’m back with my usual cliffhangers and Draaaaaaamaaaaaaaaa :)
> 
> Comments and kudos are LIFE! I need those to get going:)
> 
> Big thanks to both babbinc and my lovely friend Unpluggedsocialfilter who looked at this chapter for me Xxxx


	2. Dying of shame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred tries to comfort Mina while Edward faces one of his worst nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plumpy is the nickname Charlotte Paget gives to her youngest.

“When was your period due, anyway?” Alfred certainly wasn’t an expert about these womanly matters but had been friends with enough girls in his life to have some sort of general knowledge about it.

“It was supposed to start five days ago.” Mina stared at him with something close to panic in her eyes. _‘What am I going to do?’_

The blond scratched his nose as he tried to figure out what he should say next to reassure her.

Princess, who had been woken up by Mina’s sobs, pushed the door with her snout and got into the restroom to investigate.

“Well, it’s a bit late, but it doesn’t mean you’re pregnant.” He smiled at her as he recalled a similar episode in their common history. “Remember two years ago when you got your period a week late and we were sleeping at my parents?” She nodded as a smile crept onto her face.  “There was blood everywhere and we just threw the sheets away and blamed Junior. Mama was fuming and forbade him from going out for a whole month.”

She was giggling now. “Junior was so angry he kicked you under the table and you literally had the imprint of his shoe bruised on your leg for weeks.”

Both friends chuckled together as Princess tilted her head and glanced curiously at her two favorite humans.

Suddenly, Mina stopped laughing as she seemed to snap back to reality and sighed.  “That time was different though. I hadn’t slept with anyone.”

Alfred rolled his eyes as he got up, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her up in the process.

“Yes, but, you are on the pill.” He leaned back against the wall as she opened the tap and applied some water on her puffy eyes. “I’m not an expert, but surely, you were using other means of contraception too?”

Mina sighed once more and glanced at him. “What if it failed? I’ve tried calling Septimus fifteen times over the last few days but I can’t reach him.”

“I suggest we wait two more days. If you don’t get your period by then, we can do a pregnancy test. I’ll go and buy it or I’ll send Edward to get it for us.” He bent down to grab Princess as she closed the tap. “Until then, why don’t you follow me downstairs and eat some delicious food that will make you feel better.”

Mina kissed him on the cheek before she gave him a warning look. “Don’t tell Drums about this though. I don’t want him to know about it.”

Alfred raised an eyebrow at her. “You know me, I’ll be as silent as the grave.”

“That’s exactly it, I know you.” She slapped him playfully behind the head as he tried to look offended.  “I feel better already. Silly me, you are probably right and I’m just fussing for nothing.”

***

Baby bro at 13:17:

**Look at this beautiful picture of my tomato plant. Shame on you for mocking my incredible gardening abilities. Next time you come to visit, I’ll prep you something to eat with my glorious harvest.**

Gege P. at 13:20:

**Plumpy you utter cockwomble! That’s not the same plant you showed me last week!**

**It’s three times its size. That wimpy plant of yours can’t have changed that much in a matter of days.**

Baby bro at 13:22:

**What kind of drug are you on Gege? If you insult my plant, you are insulting me.**

Gege P. at 13:30:

**Your life is a lie. A BIG FAT LIE.**

Baby bro at 13:32:

**Fopdoodle!**

*** 

Mina at 15:25:

**I’ve decided to put on very fancy knickers. Might do the trick?**

Alf at 15:26:

**It’s always a good idea to tempt fate. My friend Victoria used to do that in uni.**

**I’m out and will stop by the library on my way home. Want something?**

*** 

Later on that night, when Edward came back from his work out with Ernst, he discovered Alfred was fast asleep in their kitchen. His head was resting on the pages of an opened book.

The brunet smiled as he lightly patted his boyfriend’s shoulder to wake him up.

After a few minutes, Alfred slowly opened one eye. He yawned before Edward bent down and kissed him.

“What time is it?”

“Late. What are you reading? It must be tedious for you to fall asleep on it. Are you reading one of my books?”

Alfred stretched a bit, as Edward looked at the titles of the various books that were scattered around on their kitchen table.

 

_What to expect when you are expecting_

_What to eat when you are pregnant_

_La grossesse au quotidien_

 

He looked at his boyfriend who smiled sweetly at him as he closed the book he was sleeping on: _Pregnant me_. “Do you have some news for me?”

“We probably are doing something wrong, because last time I checked, I still was not pregnant,” the blond replied as he got up and pointed to his flat tummy.

Edward took a deep breath, smirked and raised an eyebrow at him. “Which is a good thing because we wouldn’t be together otherwise since you wouldn’t be a man.  Why this sudden interest in pregnancies then?”

 “Mina thinks she might be pregnant, but I am not supposed to tell you this, so you don’t know anything about it.”  Alfred walked up slowly to his boyfriend, who pulled him close and wrapped his arms around him.

He squeezed him back as the brunet tried to understand what his boyfriend had just said. “Pregnant? With a baby?” 

“No, love, with a puppy.” The blond snorted before he kissed him sweetly on the lips.  “We don’t know for sure yet. She probably isn’t. I was just checking things out.”

Alfred pulled back a bit to stare at his boyfriend, who tightened his grip on him. Being in Edward’s warm embrace and feeling his strong arms wrapped around his smaller body was efficiently chasing away all further thoughts of pursuing his reading for tonight.

In fact, the only studying he was willing to do at this point was on Edward’s abs.

“How about we head back to bed and work on our baby making skills?”

***

Saturday was usually Edward’s favorite day of the week. It would start with a steamy make out session where Alfred would call his name so loudly while in the throes of passion that Mina would pout, ignore them, and send them threats via texts for the rest of the day. 

Their love making would be followed by a fair dose of cuddling and kissing as they remained in bed close to noon.

Afterwards, they often ate an unhealthy breakfast—mostly pastries from Charles’ bakery—which would be followed by more cuddling and kissing. He would then do some chores—because after all, they had to take care of their flat now that Mina had hers and certainly wasn’t going to do theirs as well as her own. Meanwhile, Alfred would go for a walk with Princess, do some chores himself and then get ready for them to go out on a date.

The said date would consist of watching a movie or eating at a fancy place, which would be followed by a walk hand in hand in the park and some more kissing… That generally led to some more frantic love making.

Yes, Saturday was definitively his favorite day of the week, until Mina crashed into their room at 6:30 in the morning. There were tears, talk of her life being over, and the terrifying possibility of having a bun in the oven. There was teary begging for one of the boys to dash into the pharmacy to get her a box of pregnancy tests and some sanitary pads, just to be sure.

Edward had argued that Alfred should be the one to go, since he did not mind buying that type of stuff. Although Alfred knew way more about this than him, Mina had shut Edward up saying that since he had dated a woman before whereas Alfred hadn’t, he should just get on with it.

She had then literally dragged him out of the bed, stolen his place next to Alfred—who clearly wasn’t awake enough to process all of this—and begun to cry on the blond’s shoulder.

All of this was the reason why Edward was waiting for the pharmacy to open, under the rain and with a gloom expression on his face, at barely 7:30 in the morning.

As he was standing there, freezing, he certainly wasn’t thinking about how warm Alfred’s skin was or how soft it was under his touch or how his boyfriend arched his foot when he kissed him _there_ or how he-

His trail of thoughts was suddenly interrupted.

Linda, the wife of the owner of the Broddigy Pharmacy located on the main street of their little town, opened the door of her establishment with a grim expression on her face.

She frowned at him as he smiled at her and mumbled a quick hello before he vanished in the first aisle on his right.

He glanced around to ensure that no one was looking at him as he grabbed some random things—a Soda and a box of tissues. He tried to find where all those mysterious feminine products he was supposed to get were located.

It all proved to be a bit tricky, since there was no chance in hell he would take the risk to ask where he could find all of those things to an employee; they all surely remembered him thanks to Alfred. The last time he had been here, his boyfriend had loudly argued with the cashier over the price of lube by saying it was supposed to be on sale and since he bought tons of it they should definitively offer him a discount. Linda had laughed and some people who were waiting in line had joined the conversation.

Needless to say, he had never run out of a store faster.

So no, thank you very much, he wasn’t going to ask for help.

After a while, he finally found the sanitary pads’ section, which to his amazement was located next to the pregnancy tests.

He was pleased and quite relieved to have found that mysterious aisle all by himself.

But that was short lived though.

What was he supposed to get? There were dozens of different boxes and packaging in front of him.

While on some boxes it said the pads were for a heavy flow of blood, others were said to be used for a light and casual one.

‘ _What was supposed to be casual about bleeding_ , _’_ he wondered as he grabbed the first pack of pads that seemed relatively familiar to him.

Feeling even prouder of himself, he began to look at all the pregnancy tests available.

Same problem there.

Tons of different options, some more expensive than others. He felt Linda’s eyes on him; she was clearly wondering what he was doing there and what was taking him so long. He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes before he snatched two boxes and quickly brought his purchase to the front counter.

Luckily for him, there were only two peoples in line in front of him.

His greatest wish was to get out of there and he was almost done with his nightmarish task.

Linda gave him a strange look as she tried to register his purchase.

He tried to avoid her stare and focused his attention on what was going on outside.

He was now sure his terrible experience was almost over.

Sadly for him, it turned out the box he had chosen was broken and Linda had to call for a price check.

Which she of course did on the loud speaker.

“Carl, I need a price check on a home pregnancy test!” she announced as everyone in the store judged him.

He felt his heart pounding and his face grow warm as he began to tap on the counter.

Linda frowned at him once more. “Why do you need to buy those things anyway?”

He stared blankly at her.

If Alfred had been there he would probably have replied something along the lines of ‘I’m lucky it’s not showing yet’ with a smile and a wink and everyone in line would have laughed like they usually did because his boyfriend was charming and always knew what to say for every occasion.

But he wasn’t Alfred.

He mumbled something incoherent while Carl finally arrived with a box of pregnancy tests which this time wasn’t damaged.

He gave Linda a bill of £20 and did not even wait for his change as he bolted out of the pharmacy.  

He had left so quickly, he had not noticed that Harriet Sutherland, one of his old colleagues, had witnessed all that had happened and was wondering what was going on.

***

When Edward finally got back home from the pharmacy, blushing like a school girl and clutching his bag as if his life depended on it, Mina was pacing around their living room. Alfred, still in his pajamas and with his hair a mess, was absentmindedly petting Princess’s back.

“Everything you need is in there,” Edward exclaimed as he quickly got his shoes off. “Now, I’ll just get back to bed and try to hide my profound embarrassment. Please don’t ask me to run out for that kind of errand ever again.”

Alfred grabbed the bag Edward was handing them, seeing how Mina was frozen on the spot, kissed his boyfriend on his cheek as the latter got into their room and quickly got a test out of the pink little cardboard box.

 Princess looked at him with curiosity, while Mina gulped loudly.

He handed her the test and walked her to the restroom, rolling his eyes as he saw Edward had indeed decided to hide under the covers in the middle of their bed.

Mina closed the door behind her as Alfred sat next to the lump his boyfriend was forming on the bed. In the bathroom, Mina looked at the instructions on the box of the pregnancy test.

It was fairly easy; a minus meant not pregnant, while a plus meant pregnant.

Five minutes later, Mina opened the restroom door. She was white faced and sweating. Alfred stared at her as Edward emerged from underneath the covers and stared at her too. 

Both men waited keenly for her answer.

“Gosh, I can’t read it. I feel dizzy.”  She replied as she shakily handed the test over to Alfred, who eagerly grabbed it and looked at it at once.  “Please Alf, tell me, what does it says?”

“There’s a big fat plus on there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh oh! Sounds like Mina really is pregnant! How will Septimus react to the news?  
> Big thanks to my beta Unpluggedsocialfilter who took the time to check my work! I really appreciate it! Xxx  
> Comment and kudos are LIFE!


	3. A bun in the oven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mina REALLY is pregnant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A pregnancy is 40 weeks long. You can get a positive on your pregnancy test from week 4 and onward :) Mina is 5 weeks along.  
> If you haven’t read Simple Rules to Follow, you need to know my Pagets are extremely open about EVERYTHING. They discussed Alfred and Edward’s sexual life over dinner last time they stopped by their home for a visit.

“Alfred, you better not be kidding me or else, I swear I am going to kill you.”

“I swear it on my life; it’s positive. _Look.”_ Alfred exhaled and handed the pregnancy test over to his best friend.

The latter took a big gulp of air before she glanced at it.

As she stared at it and realised it was indeed positive, she did not know how she was supposed to feel about this shocking news.

She felt a curious mix of joy, surprise, stress and anger all at once.

It was way too much to take in this early in the morning.

“Talk about luck. I’ve been single for the last eight years. I finally date someone whom, as you know, I had a crush on for a while.  We sleep together literally twice and BOOM! My life is over: I am pregnant.”   Her head was spinning, and Edward frowned at her.

She unsteadily sat down next to her best friend, put her face into her hands and let out a big sob.

Edward, who was still feeling awkward from his earlier trip to the pharmacy, felt even more out of place now. He scratched the back of his head, shared a glance with his boyfriend, got up and decided to leave them alone.

Princess looked curiously at her papa, before she jumped on the bed and rested her head on Mina’s knees.

Alfred put his head on Mina’s shoulder and encircled his best friend with his arms. “I wouldn’t say your life is over. I’m sure Septimus will be thrilled by this news.” She shook her head and wiped her tears with her left hand. “Yes, this is unexpected and it is taking us all by surprise. If you want to put an end to this pregnancy, I’ll go with you to the clinic. If you don’t, well you can be sure I’ll be at your side every step of the way.”

She squeezed his right hand and looked at him. “As if I could get rid of you. You are always there when I need you. I can already see you sneaking upstairs to feed baby Paget and lull him to sleep in my rocking chair.”

He grinned. “And spoil him and bring him down here so Edward can hold him too.”  Both friends shared a smile as they imagined how their lives would be with a newborn around the house.

“I’ll try to reach Septimus and we will think about what we’ll do from there. Until then, let’s keep this between the three of us.” She instinctively put her hand on her flat belly as Alfred grabbed his puppy and hugged her.

Life at 1315 Buckingham Rd was about to change drastically and it would all be for the better.

*** 

Alfie at 10:56:

**Mama do you know it there is a way to reach Sept? I’ve tried to use the phone numbers he left us, but I can’t seem to get the calls through.**

Charlie P. at 11:05:

**He told me we wouldn’t be able to reach him for a good three weeks because he was in a very remote place. It is unsafe for him to use or own a phone anyway.**

**Also I told your dad that now wasn’t the time to try to repaint the staircase ceiling on his own.**

**But you know him, he won’t listen. It’ll be just our luck if he falls and breaks his neck. It could take weeks before Septimus could be back for his funeral.**

**Why?**

Alfred stared at his phone and tried to think of what he could reply to his mom. He needed to find something that did not sound too suspicious.

He usually wasn’t one to call his brother when he was away on missions. He decided to just wait and act as though he hadn’t seen his mom’s message.

He should have known better about it though.

Charlotte Paget wasn’t one to let matters go easily. After all, she had managed to raise seven sons without going mad and she was an expert when it came to deciphering whether one of them was lying.

Plus, she knew her way enough around technology as to know that when a little checkmark appeared next to a message, it meant the recipient had seen it.

Two minutes later, his phone began to ring.

Without looking at it, he knew without a shadow of a doubt the caller was his dear mama.

He cursed loudly—Princess looked at him questioningly—before he answered the call.

“Hi Mama!”

“Hi baby! Is there something you are not telling me?”

He scratched the back of his neck and decided to be honest. Getting past his mom’s suspicions was nearly impossible anyway.

“There is.” He paused and looked at his puppy.  “I can’t tell you everything as of now, but I can assure you no one is in danger. On the contrary, this is good news.”

“Does it have something to do with your wedding? I have not received my invitation yet. I hope you are still planning on inviting us?” He could hear by the tone of her voice she was a bit annoyed by it and he smiled.

As if he would not invite his parents at his own wedding.

He would be comfortable with not having Frances—Edward’s mom—there, but it was another thing with his parents.

He grabbed a glass of water and drank a gulp of it before he resumed his conversation. “I was a bit distracted lately-”

“By distracted, do you mean you were busy making out with that lovely boyfriend of yours? George told me all about it. If you continue like this, you’ll go through your mattress before long. We could get you a new one as a wedding gift, maybe? A bigger one?”

Alfred smirked. “Sounds like a good idea Mama. I wouldn’t say no to a bigger playground.”

“I’ve always told you son, the bigger the better.” Charlotte laughed on the other side of the line. “I have to go now. I can see Richard trying to choke Junior on the front lawn.”

They exchanged farewells before Charlotte hung up and Alfred turned his attention back to his puppy. It seemed his mom had been content with the answer he had given her. She was right though; he had a wedding to plan. He quickly got one of his notebooks out and sat down to write a draft of his guest list.

*** 

Later that evening, both Edward and Alfred were lying in the hammock Septimus had given them on his last visit. The sun was setting and the evening air was fresh. Princess was silently playing around them in the backyard.

It truly was an enchanting midsummer evening.

Alfred was resting his head on Edward’s chest, as both were reading a book together. Edward was holding the book with his right hand while he was gently caressing his boyfriend’s lower back with his other hand.

“With everything that is happening with Mina, I’ve had an epiphany,” started Alfred, as Edward closed his book and held him closer. “I want a baby too.”

The brunet rolled his eyes. He knew that conversation was bound to come up sooner than later. “You already have Princess.”

The little puppy barked upon hearing her name. She was chasing after a delicious looking butterfly.

Alfred sighed dramatically. “My biological clock is ticking!”

Edward smirked. “You don’t have a biological clock.” He kissed the top of his boyfriend’s head as Alfred sighed once more. “You’ve just turned 26. I think it’s safe to say we can postpone this conversation for the next five years.”

Alfred propped himself up on his elbow and stared at his boyfriend with seriousness; his blue eyes shinning with the last light of dusk. “Yes, but you are an old man of 30.”

“Pfff! Aren’t we sassy tonight, Mr. Paget?” Edward stuck his tongue out at him as Alfred flashed him a grin. “I’ll show you what an old man like me can still do.”

The blond sniggered as Edward firmly grabbed him by the waist and made him roll on top of him—which proved to be precarious since our lovers were in a hammock.

Princess looked at her fathers and decided it was time for her to visit her aunt. After all, that butterfly was too beautiful to be eaten. She climbed the three steps that led to the interior of the house as nothing else could be heard outside except the sounds made by cicadas and some quiet little smooching sounds that were coming from the hammock.

***

A week after Mina had found out she was pregnant, she still hadn’t been able to reach Septimus. The little blonde was still in limbo and was wondering if she should go on with her pregnancy or if she should just interrupt it. She wasn’t in the best of mood and as a result, Alfred tried to be extremely kind to her and more supportive than ever.

He had even lent her all the pregnancy books he had borrowed from the library.

Alfred was now focused on writing out his guest list, which had prevented him from doing his gardening. It was both a blessing and a curse, honestly, which meant his precious tomato plant was yet again between life and death.

Edward was planning on stopping by the hardware store to get a new one while the love of his life was away at his Zumba class, when Harriet Sutherland, one of his ex-coworkers emerged swiftly from between two buildings and stood in his way on the sidewalk.

“Good evening Harriet!” He said as she quickly greeted him back.

She glanced around them to check that they were alone before she resumed their conversation.

“I saw you at the pharmacy the other day. You were buying things I’m pretty confident Alfred doesn’t need.” The beautiful woman stared at him with her arms crossed and a firm expression on her face. “Who’s pregnant?”

Edward blinked twice, slightly taken aback. ‘ _Don’t say it’s Mina. Whatever you say, don’t say it’s Mina.’_ “My sister.”

Harriet looked at him suspiciously. “You don’t have any siblings. I know all of this because I am part of the health and safety committee at Worthington’s. Mr. Peel asked us to register everyone’s living family members in case of an emergency. I know perfectly well you only have your mother left.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Who’s pregnant Drummond?”

At that precise moment the brunet was sure he looked like a deer caught in headlights.

In fact, he wasn’t just looking like one. He was feeling like one too.

To avoid any further questioning, he blurted out the first thing that crossed his mind “I am having an affair.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow Edward, way to go!  
> Thank you Unpluggedsocialfilter for yet again correcting my stuff! Ton travail est impeccable Xxxx  
> Comments and kudos are LIFE!


	4. My heart skips a beat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys have a ridiculous bet going on and Mina is having her first medical appointment for her pregnancy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m basing off all of the medical pregnancy stuff on how it goes in Canada :) I don’t know if this is exactly the same everywhere in the world, but it is probably similar.  
> Warning: sexting and inappropriate use of emojis.  
> Oh and in case you didn’t know, my Alfred has a rainbow heart tattoo on his butt! XD

“WHAT?” Harriet’s eyes grew wide with shock and her brow creased. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

Edward blinked twice and scratched his nose as he tried to keep his countenance.

_‘How stupid of me to say such a thing?’_

“That’s not what I meant! I ehm-”

But the beautiful brunette had had enough of this conversation already. She glared at him with such loathing, it silenced him on the spot.

“It’s not my business to mingle with your personal life Drummond, but this is pretty low. Alfred is an awesome man. I can’t believe you are doing this to him.” She cleared her throat and clutched so hard at the handle of her handbag, her knuckles turned white.

She was more than fed up with him.

Edward felt his anxiety flare up. It seemed imperative now to clarify the situation. ‟Harriet, this is not what I meant. I-”

The beautiful woman gave him a warning look as his breath caught in his throat.

She turned her back on him and quickly crossed the street, her heels loudly clicking on the pavement as she walked away.

Edward facepalmed and sighed. This conversation was clearly going to comeback to haunt him sooner than later. He would need to tell all of this to Alfred as soon as the latter would be back from his Zumba class.

They clearly did not need any more drama in their life.

Of course, when his boyfriend sent him a text later on that evening, telling him he was back home and had a very dirty idea in mind he simply forgot all about it.

*******

Thursday August 16th\- Alf at 10:15 :

**I’m just up. Last night has worn me out ;P**

My one and only <3 at 10:16:

**Have I read right?**

**I’ve worn you out?**

**WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY BOYFRIEND? No, wait… MY FIANCÉ!**

Alf  at 10:17:

**Well a double Zumba class + the fact I had to walk half the way back because Ernst had a date + your incessant sexual demands… I’d say it’s just normal I’m a bit tired, don’t you think?**

**Princess is still sleeping and I’m having fun with a new app.**

[ ](http://tinypic.com?ref=2uynlm8)

My one and only <3 at 10:17:

**I love the fact you chose an image with a rainbow in the background. This is so you!**

**Also, now that I am seeing this countdown, we need to get moving with our wedding preparations.**

**Less making out and more planning is what we need to do.**

Alf  at 10:18:

**Says you, who literally tries to get in my pants the second you come home.**

**This has been duly** **noted. No more sex until further notice.**

My one and only <3 at 10:20:

**You are kidding me, right? I’m giving you three days before you ~~are~~ back to waking me up just to get some.**

Alf at 10:20 :

**Wanna bet? You are the one who’s going to beg me for a good hard bang before the end of the week.**

My one and only <3 at 10 :25:

**You wish babe, YOU WISH. If I win, you’ll wash the bathroom floor with a toothbrush.**

Alf at 10:27:

**Are you trying to channel my inner Cinderella?**

My one and only <3 at 10h30:

**I don’t need to: you already are a princess.**

Alf at 10:32:

**Pfff! If I win, you’ll get to repaint the fence, shirtless, all by yourself under the scorching sun while I will watch with a smirk and a drink in hand!**

*******

It was close to 11:00 and Wilhelmina was looking at herself in her restroom’s mirror. She was now in the tenth week of her pregnancy and she had still not been able to reach Septimus yet, to her great displeasure and to her ever-growing anxiety.

Her first medical appointment would be the next day and Alfred had already stated he was going to go with her.

She was now fond of the idea of being pregnant and of the little baby—who was now the size of a green olive, as Alfred had told her—that was growing in her womb. She examined her profile in the mirror and sighed.

At this point, she looked as though she had gained a few extra pounds, but it did not look like she was pregnant at all.

She pouted and grabbed an elastic band to tie her hair into a ponytail, when she felt her phone buzz in the back pocket of her skirt. She distractedly took her phone out and glanced at who the caller was.

It was Septimus.

Her heart began to pound loudly in her chest. She sat on the floor, took a deep breath and answered the call she had been expecting for the last few weeks.

***

After her call, Mina rushed downstairs to check on Alfred and to tell him what had just happened.

She saw by the window Princess was sleeping curled up on the porch, a ray of sunshine warming her little belly.

After seeing her best friend wasn’t hanging out in his kitchen or in his living room, she went straight to his bedroom.

“What are you doing still in bed at this hour?” 

“I’m tired and I’m not ready to adult yet, as you can see.”  Alfred shrugged and gestured to the room at large. He was still wearing his pajamas and had not combed his hair yet.

Now that she was looking at it, his bedroom was turning into a hot mess, honestly.

Discarded clothes were laying everywhere and empty glasses and dirty plates were on the floor. Edward’s gym bag was upside-down, half opened in the corner of the room; his ridiculously large smelly sneakers close to Princess’ bed.

Wilhelmina raised an eyebrow at the blond and a smirk spread on her face as she pointed to the colored ties that were fastened to the headboard of his bed. “I see someone had a big night!”

Alfred nodded and flashed her a saucy grin. “We cosplayed in bed. I was an innocent Hufflepuff prefect, while Edward was the naughty Gryffindor Quidditch captain, wandering the corridors of Hogwarts at night...”

The little blonde rolled her eyes. “I thought I had heard a ‘ _Drummond scores yet again for Gryffindor_ ‘ and something along the lines of‘ _Save a broom; ride a Quidditch player_ ‘ last night as I was closing my window, but somehow my innocent brain believed you were only watching the Harry Potter movies.” She shook her head and snorted as she sat next to him on the bed. “But how do you come up with these crazy ideas, honestly?”

“I really don’t know.” He moved a bit to allow her more room on the bed and handed her his phone. ‟On another note, I’ve been playing with a cute new app and I’ve made something for you.”

She looked at the phone with curiosity and smiled upon seeing the image on the screen.

“Aaaaaw this is so cute.” She felt extremely sentimental and took a deep breath as she felt happy tears welling  in her eyes. ‟Why is everything blue though? We don’t even know the baby’s gender yet!”

Alfred shrugged. “You can change the color if you want, but Baby Paget is obviously a boy. We only get boys in our family. Mama will tell you all about it when you tell her the news.”  He scratched his nose as she placed the phone on her knees. “That is if you decide to keep the baby, of course,” he added, before he looked at her.

She smiled. “I am. Keeping it, that is. I’ve just spoken to Septimus!”

Alfred gasped and looked at her with anticipation. “You did! Finally, after all this time! What did he say?”

‟He said he was sorry he couldn’t call back before. He has just reached a place with Wi-Fi for the first time since he left. He flipped when he saw all the missed calls. He was scared George had died or something.”

Alfred snorted. ‟The only reason Gege would be dead is if I had killed him during our camping trip, which has been a close call, honestly!” He began to fidget with the hem of his duvet. ‟What did he say about the pregnancy?”

‟He was surprised and extremely happy by the news. He says he has had a crush on me for ages too and that he has always known we were made for each other. We are going to get engaged and he’s going to move in with me upstairs when he comes back.”

‟See, I told you it would all turn out well.” Alfred sighed, clearly relived by this news too. He was already pretty attached to baby Paget and to the idea of having Mina with a big belly in his wedding photos. ‟Mama will freak out when you tell her the news.”

‟She will! Sept was a bit concerned I’m facing this all by myself, but I told him you were here to support me.” Tears were flowing down her cheeks by now. She rolled her eyes at how stupid she was for crying as Alfred grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her close.

‟Aaaaw don’t make me cry Mina. Hush now. Everything is fine.” She grabbed a tissue from his nightside table, when Alfred’s phone, which was still on her knees, buzzed.

‟Who is it?”

‟It’s from your one and only: ‘ **Work is going so much better now that I am not feeling the pressure of winning this bet. We know both well you are going to lose.”**

“Please Mina, text him back: ‘ **You wank, you lose Drummond.’** ” Mina snorted and gave him a funny look but did as she was told. Alfred stretched and got up. ‟I’ll tell you all about this bet while I prep us some food for lunch. But first, can you help me pick all those clothes up? I want to get a start on the laundry.”

Mina glanced at him and pushed herself up from the bed. “Only if you tell me all the juicy details from last night.”

“Deal.”

***

‟Alfred, I thought you were still working on your guest list in the-” Edward gaped as he entered their bedroom and spotted his boyfriend, lounging on their bed, with only a tight pair of rainbow boxer briefs—his favorites—on.

‟It’s rather hot tonight, don’t you think?” asked the blond as he flashed him a smile and blew him a kiss.

The brunet took a deep breath and looked at Princess, who was sleeping in her bed, at the foot of theirs.

He knew Alfred would try to win this bet by pulling ~~d~~ irty moves on him. Yet he wasn’t sure he was fully prepared to face his boyfriend when the latter was in full flirt mode.

Edward ogled his boyfriend one last time before he shook his head and decided to go on with his evening routine.

Focusing on ordinary things was going to help him get through this and win this stupid bet.

He glanced in the room once more, just to see Alfred biting his lip and looking at what appeared to be one of his own books.

It was a very hot image, honestly.

He took a deep breath before he walked back to their bed, painfully aware a situation was quickly developing in his pants.

Alfred was smirking and gave him a knowing look.  ‟My list is almost done anyway. It wasn’t easy sorting through my 3 000 Facebook friends, but I’m managing,” he shrugged.

‟How can you have 3000 Facebook friends? I don’t even think I have 10 people on there and I can’t even remember my password.” Good, talking about his lack of a social life was already calming him down.

Yep, he was way calmer now.

He was in control.

Well, until he smelled Alfred’s intoxicating scent, that is. ‟Are you really wearing cologne?”

‟Silly me! I splashed some without thinking after I was done undressing. You don’t mind right? If so, I can go take a shower,” replied the blond as he closed his book and began to pull his underwear off.

Edward blinked twice and tried to focus once more on Princess. ‟Eh, no.”

‟Good, because I would like to get back to my reading.”

 _Stay calm Drummond, you can do this._ ‟What are you reading?”

‟I’ve just picked one of your books. You know, the one describing in detail everything about the passionate debates that surrounded the Corn Laws. I’ve just reached 1820.  We can talk about it if you’d like.”

‟NO. I think I’ll just go to sleep. It was a long day at the bakery and…you know.” He absolutely was having some more difficulty focusing.

Alfred shrugged. ‟I’m a bit tired too.” The blond stretched to put his book back on his nightside table. As he did so, his underwear rode lower on his butt, showing his ridiculous little heart tattoo.

Edward sighed. His boyfriend really had a great ass.

The only thing that would make it look even better was if his hands were on it.

Not that he was thinking of squeezing it right now.

With both of his hands.

No, not him.  

“Good night my love.” Said Alfred as he turned around and gave him what appeared to be a chaste kiss at first but turned out way steamier when he carefully slid his tongue into his mouth and began to caress the other’s with it. Edward sighed into the kiss as Alfred pulled back.

The blond then smirked innocently, turned on his right side to shut the light—flashing him his cute little butt once more—and rolled back towards him when he was done.  

He then yawned exaggeratedly before he snuggled closer, making sure his right hand was resting only a few millimetres away from Edward’s painful erection.

The brunet sighed as he tried to calm down. He was very aroused—obviously—but would be damned if he lost this ridiculous bet only twelve hours after it had been on.

It seemed he was in for another solid 8 hours of non-sleep, as Alfred’s steady breathing proved him the latter was already asleep.

At least he had not lost the bet…yet.

***

Mina at 8:36:

**Are you awake? We are supposed to be at the clinic in 40 minutes!**

**I’ve just realised this is the first time in a very long while I’ve not heard any noise coming from downstairs. Is one of you dead or is the bet still on?**

Alf at 8:45:

**Yep, so far so good! I’m feeding Princess and then I’ll meet you upstairs.**

*******

Bae at 9:25:

**Look at what you are missing…Just admit it, I’m winning.**

[ ](http://tinypic.com?ref=2aenln4)

Edward D. at 9:30:

**Two can play at this game!**

[ ](http://tinypic.com?ref=10wsl0x)

Bae at 9:37:

**You can’t beat me at this.**

[ ](http://tinypic.com?ref=2j2dn54)

**Got to go, the doctor is calling us in her office Xxxx**

*******

“Please, do come in. I am doctor Eleni Fitoussi. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Coke.”

“Likewise,” said Mina as she shook hands with the kind looking doctor who was greeting her into her office.  She was a small woman in her forties, who wore glasses and a warm expression on her face.

Dr. Fitoussi gestured for Mina to take her shoes off and to get to her examination table before she turned around to shake Alfred’s hand. “And you must be the father?”

Alfred shook his head and smiled. “Oh no, I am not. In fact, I am the un-”

“What my friend means to say is he’s the future godfather,” replied Mina.

Alfred’s heart skipped a beat as he looked at his friend with surprise. He was overcome with emotion and was lost for words as he sat down on a chair. This was music to his ears and he had to fight back tears of joy. It was an honor Mina was bestowing on him.

His best friend flashed him a smile as she lay down on the examination table.

The doctor scribbled down some notes before she turned her attention back to Mina, who was anxiously waiting to see what would happen next. “Whendid you last menstruate?”

“The 4th of June.” The doctor began to do some routine check on her. She listened to her heart and checked her blood pressure attentively.

“Everything seems perfectly normal for now, which is what we want.” The doctor gave Alfred a thumbs up before she grabbed a small black monitor called a doppler. It looked like a little radio with a microphone attached to it.  “Let’s listen to your baby’s heartbeat, shall we?”

The doctor began to move her doppler around Mina’s flat belly.

Both friends were holding their breath, feeling anxious to hear baby Paget’s heartbeat for the first time.

A couple of minutes passed, but still nothing could be heard in the room.

The doctor frowned and let out an annoyed noise, as she continued to palpate Mina’s belly. “This is curious. At this stage of the pregnancy, we should be able to clearly hear a heartbeat.”

Alfred grabbed her best friend’s hand as she looked at him with panic in her eyes. What if baby Paget hadn’t been there in the first place?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. Stupid cliffhanger…  
> A big thank you to Queen_of_shots, my fantastic beta Xxxx  
> On another note, who do you think is going to win this ridiculous bet? Will it be Edward or Alfred?  
> Part 2 of Camp it up! will be posted soon :)  
> Kudos and comments are LIFE!


	5. Edward ups his game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred meets Harriet at the grocery store and Edward tries to pull himself together to win the bet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has not been checked by my beta, which means there might be spelling mistakes. Sorry!

Alfred tried to reassure Mina with a glance as Doctor Fitoussi continued to palpate her belly. He scratched his nose out of nervousness. ‟Is there a possibility my friend had a false positive on her pregnancy test?”

Mina gulped loudly as the doctor made yet again an annoyed noise with her tongue. She ignored Alfred’s question and stayed focussed on her patient.  ‟ Could you please turn on your left side Ms. Coke?”

Mina did as she was told.  Alfred wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans before he grasped Mina’s hand back into his own.

This whole situation was nerve-wracking. Tension was palpable in the room.

Suddenly, a loud thump could be heard via the doppler and both friends looked at each other with surprise.

Doctor Fitoussi smiled. ‟Your baby keeps moving around which makes him difficult to find.”

The old woman moved her doppler on the side of Mina’s belly once more and finally, a fast and steady heartbeat could clearly be heard by everyone in the room.

‟See, baby is there.” Dr. Fitoussi exclaimed as Alfred gasped loudly and a tear rolled down Mina’s cheek. ‟ This is a healthy heartbeat too. No need to worry anymore about the risks of a miscarriage.” She added with a wink before she turned back to her desk to file some paperwork.

Mina got up from the examination table and as both friends left the doctor’s office, they were beaming.

Baby Paget now seemed like a tangible reality.

***

After the appointment, Alfred had walked Mina back to the house before he had gone to the library to return the multiple books he had borrowed on pregnancy a few weeks ago.

The little blonde was about to sit down in her living room, when she spotted Edward working in their backyard.

Princess was playfully running around him as she was chasing after a bird.

The brunet had just finished mowing the lawn and he seemed to be doing some work in their garden now.

Was she imagining things or had he, yet again, switched the tomato plant?

She rolled her eyes and a smile crept on her face as she went out on her balcony.

‟You can’t always switch that plant to avoid Alfred’s heart being broken you know.” She said as she sat down on the last step of the staircase that led from her flat to the backyard.

Princess looked at her for a brief second before she resumed her pacing around Edward, who seemed pretty absorbed by his work.

His brow was furrowed in concentration and some black earth was stuck on his left cheek.

Mina quirked an eyebrow at him and spoke more loudly. ‟Drums, I’m talking to you!”

‟Oh, Mina.” He was startled by her voice. He glanced around and flashed her a smile as he picked up the shovel he had used to switch the plants, making sure all the evidence of the change had been cleaned out. ‟ You were saying?”

‟I was saying you should stop interfering with Alfred’s lack of gardening abilities. You won’t be able to keep this up much longer anyway.”

Edward shrugged. ‟I guess.” He flashed her a smile as Princess was now running back and forth the length of the yard. ‟Did your appointment go well?”

‟It did. And you know what’s even better? Now that you two have this stupid bet going on, I’m finally enjoying some peace and quiet.” She winked at him. ‟I hope you are going to win this bet, by the way. You need to step up for yourself Drums. Alfred can’t always get what he wants, you know.”

Edward rubbed the back of his neck. ‟Of course I will. ” He laughed nervously and glanced around the yard, as he avoided her stare.

He certainly wasn’t thinking about ending this stupid bet the second Alfred would get back home from his trip to the library.

Nope, not him.

***

After he was done returning his books at the library, Alfred stopped by the grocery store to get some food Mina had asked him to get via text messages. His best friend was having ridiculous cravings, which made those little trips a more common occurrence.

The first few weeks into her pregnancy, she had been craving sweet food, but now she was all about pickles.

She wanted pickle everything.

He checked his phone as he was waiting in line to pay. Mina had just sent him a pin from Pinterest about 118 snacks that could be done with pickles and he was pulling weird face as he scrolled through the pictures of the various meals that were listed down.

His phone buzzed as he was just done looking at the picture of snack #23. He glanced at the new text —or rather the new sext—he had just received from Edward.

My one and only <3 at 5.25:

**Your clothes are coming off the second you get home.**

The two had exchanged naughty text messages for most of the day and he was pretty sure he was about to win this ridiculous bet.

 It was obvious his boyfriend couldn’t take this any longer.

He smirked. It seemed his outrageous flirting was paying of, which was a good thing, considering he was going crazy himself with lust.

Deep down, he knew he would win all along. After all, as his brother Clarence liked to say, the Pagets were natural born winners.

He was almost done composing his message—something along the lines of ‘ _I want you to tease me until I can’t take it any longer' w_ hen someone put a hand on his shoulder.

‟Oh, hey Alfred!”

He looked up from his phone and smiled as he recognized who the person was. ‟Harriet, I am so pleased to meet you! How are you doing?”

His co-worker, a beautiful woman with long brown hair, smiled back at him.

‟Better since my ex-husband has moved out.” There was a pause as she looked at what he was buying—mostly pickle jars. ‟How are things going on with your boyfriend? Are you spending a lot of time together? Do you know what he is doing right now?” She avoided his gaze and smiled strangely.

He quirked an eyebrow at her. ‟ Well, we do.  I can’t tell you what he is doing right now though, why? Do you want to come over to see him?”

‟Oh, no, no, no.” She vigorously shook her head and gave him that weird smile again. ‟ I just wanted to tell you that if you need help for anything or someone to talk to if things aren’t going well, you can always count on me.”

He frowned. Something was definitively weird with her. ‟Eh…thank you Harriet, I’ll keep that in mind.”  With that, she winked at him, gave him a reassuring smile and left the store.

He couldn’t say what was going on but was positive it was something fishy. What had Edward done this time?

***

Alfred thought about his strange run-in with Harriet during all of his walk back home. Upon his arrival at his house, he saw Mina was sleeping in the hammock in their backyard. He went upstairs to her flat to drop the food he had bought before he got back down into his own. He took his sunglasses off and walked to his bedroom, guessing —and hoping—Edward would be in there, waiting for him.

Upon opening his bedroom door, he gasped.

Edward wasn’t naked in their bed as he had expected him to be.

No.

The sight before him was even better.

His eyes grew wide. ‟Did you do all that laundry by yourself or did Mina helped you?”

Edward smirked. ‟ Nope, I did it all by myself.”

Alfred gaped. His heart was beating faster. ‟And you folded it.”

Edward gave him a seductive look. ‟I did. ”

Alfred sat down on their bed. He was literally getting weak in the knees.

 If there was something that was turning him on more than Edward being a nerd, it was when Edward was doing domestic things all by himself.

He sighed loudly and fanned himself.

Winning this stupid bet might prove to be harder than he had imagined it to be.

Edward sat next to him on the bed and pulled him closer, so his legs were now resting on his lap. They kissed.

Alfred pulled back, his run-in with Harriet already in the back of his mind. “Did you write down the names of who you wanted to invite to our wedding? I really need to send our invitations before I get back to work. ”

 _That’s it Paget, focus on your wedding_ , he thought as he tilted his head on the side and flashed Edward his trademark grin.

He blinked twice and batted his eyelashes at his boyfriend.

He knew it was driving Edward mad with desire when he did that.

It proved to be effective. His boyfriend seemed to zone out for a moment and Alfred was now sure he was about to win this ridiculous bet.

Which was a good thing because he was in desperate need of some serious loving.

Edward licked his lips and pulled him closer still. Alfred was now practically sitting on his boyfriend’s lap.

He felt he was about to swoon as Edward kissed his cheek and whispered slowly into his ear. ‟I was too busy mowing the lawn and watering your garden.”

Alfred’s breath caught in his throat. That’s it he was going to lose. He had to do something NOW or else he wasn’t trusting himself to resist much longer.

‟I’ll…I’ll go and take a cold shower. Don’t wait for me! I’ve promised Mina I would sleep upstairs tonight. We’ll discuss about our guest list tomorrow.” He simply added before he bolted out of  the room.

It had been a close call, but the bet was still on.

 

***

 

Baby bro at 11:42:

**How’s your BIG FAT nose Gege?**

Gege P. at 11:46:

**The doctor said it could take up to eight weeks until it’s healed back to it’s original glorious state.**

**My nose is still prettier than yours, by the way.**

**Clarence sent you mail AND junk and Mama wants me to deliver it to you.**

**I really don’t want to.**

Baby bro at 11:50:

**I don’t want to see you either.**

**Clarence is my favorite brother now. And William. And Septimus. And Junior. And Rich- Nope not Richard.**

Gege P. at 11:53:

**Screw you, then. I’ll burn Clarence’s junk and will ask him to send his trash directly to your house next time.**

**I can’t believe you are not showing more respect to your elder. After all I did for you. I’ve basically raised you.**

**That’s it, I’m blocking you.**

Baby bro at 11:57:

**I might have received a message from Riley Kelly…**

Gege P. at 11:58:

**YOU DID!?**

**Plumpy, you have always been my favorite brother. Your nose is the cutest. Your fashion sense is borderline genius. Your dancing skills are legendary.**

**Does she want my phone number?**

Baby bro at 12:00:

**I don’t think she remembers who you are Gege. She probably thinks you are just a big twat, which of course you are.**

**She invited me to her self-defense class. She said I could bring some friends along…**

Gege P. at 12:02:

**DON’T FORGET I ONCE HELPED YOU GET BACK WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND. REMEMBER THAT STEAMY NIGHT YOU SPENT IN YOUR SCHOOL’S GYM CLOSET?!?! WELL, IT WAS ALL THANKS TO ME.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly this ridiculous bet has been going on for long enough, don’t you think?  
> On another note, will Alfred bring George with him to Riley’s class?  
> STAY TUNED FOR MORE FLUFF AND SILLINESS!!!  
> Comments and kudos are LIFE!


	6. Edward Drummond, Domestic God

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mina wants the stupid bet to end (and so do we)

Four days into the bet, Mina was on the verge of killing one of the boys. Alfred had been sleeping upstairs with her for the last three nights and her patience was running thin.

It had been so long since Alfred had been dating Edward, that she had forgotten how hyper her best friend was when he did not spend his ‘extra energy’ under the sheets.

For the last three nights, he had gone upstairs around 7.00 and had talked and talked and talked about various topics until she had fallen asleep.

It wasn’t that she was not interested by what he was saying, on the contrary.

It was just that she was tired out by the heatwave and she was pregnant. Sleeping was what she wanted to do every minute of every day.

Then, as she would sleep and snore, Alfred would write or draw or read and would turn around in the bed until it was close to midnight.

He would then wake up around 5.00, roll around in the bed for another twenty minutes, go for an early stroll with Princess, come back just in time to prep breakfast for both her and Edward, would flirt outrageously with the latter and then would clean and organize stuff both downstairs and upstairs for a good part of the day.

He had vacuumed her place three times in as many days and everything in her kitchen cupboard was now placed in alphabetical order.

This stupid bet needed to end in the next 24 hours or else, she wouldn’t be held responsible for her actions.

While Alfred was taking a shower, she went downstairs for dinner. She had prepped dinner for the three of them, as she often did.

Edward seemed to be palely loitering these days.

Princess was a bit out of sorts too. All those walks were taking a toll on her.She was resting at Edward's feet and barely glanced at her as she sat down.

She placed the food on the table and served herself. She added some food in Edward’s plate too, seeing the latter only stared at his plate with a weird expression on his face.

He rubbed the back of his neck and then grabbed his fork. ‟What is it supposed to be already?” He frowned as he pointed to the food.

‟It’s called a pickle dog. Basically, it’s a pickle wrapped in a layer of cream cheese and swaddled in pastrami. Looks delicious right?” Mina smiled warmly at him. ‟ I also have a dill pickle pasta salad to go with it.”

Edward pushed his food around his plate as she was already serving herself for a second time.

In her opinion, this food was simply delicious.

Edward tried to sneak some to Princess, but the little puppy whined and turned her head the other way around.

Alfred was done with his shower and walked up to the kitchen with only a towel around his waist. He was dripping water everywhere on the floor. He winked at his boyfriend, took a sip in the latter’s glass and slowly got back to their bedroom to get dressed. He was supposed to leave for his Zumba class in half an hour.

Mina rolled her eyes and shook her head at how shameless her best friend was and returned her attention back to Edward. The latter clearly had zoomed out.

She snapped her fingers in front of his face. ‟Drums, you’ll need to put an end to this stupid bet or else, I swear, I am going to murder one of you. I really will.” She took a sip of water from her own glass. ‟This place has never been this clean since it has been built 50 years ago and you clearly seem to be living a half life these days. Even Princess is fed up with all of this.”

Edward shrugged and stared at her. ‟I’m doing fine Mina. I really am.”

Alfred,  now wearing his workout clothes, got back into the kitchen, sat on the chair next to Mina and glanced at the food she had baked.

He seemed to reconsider his options as he filled his plate. He bravely ate two helpings of salad and wrinkled his nose at the taste. He then scratched his nose and cleared his throat. ‟So many innuendos I could say about this meal, but I’ll restrain myself.”

Mina facepalmed and took a deep breath. ‟Alfred, can’t you please shut up, take a bite of the food I’ve just prepared for you and you know, just politely sw- ” She closed her mouth and groaned.

Alfred quirked an eyebrow at her ‟ And swallow it? You know very well that swallowing is what I do.” Edward choked on his food and coughed loudly. ‟Honestly, this looks delicious Mina, but Ernst is already waiting for me outside.”

She gave him a dark look as he got up and winked at Edward.

Just before he left, he leaned against the door frame seductively and blew a kiss at his boyfriend.

Mina rubbed her temples as he was shutting the door. She took a deep breath. ‟I’ll say this one last time Drums. Either you accept my help, or else, Alfred is sleeping downstairs tonight and you will lose this ridiculous bet. You can’t beat him at this.”

Edward pushed his plate away with his left hand and glanced at her with seriousness. ‟What do you think I should do?”

***

Edward sighed as he wondered how he had managed to not succumb to Alfred’s obnoxious flirting for this long. Four days seemed like an eternity.

If Alfred had not slept upstairs for the last few nights, he clearly would have lost.

It was Friday and his boyfriend was out for the afternoon, which meant it was time to put in action Mina’s plan.

This plan was his last hope.

In fact, if it did not work out, he would surrender.

It was only a question of time, honestly, before he lost anyway, since Nancy —freshly back from her honeymoon— and Ernst had asked them if they would like to go to the club on Saturday night and there was no chance in hell he would spend a night with a sweaty Alfred grinding against him on the dance floor without taking him to bed the second they would get back home.

It simply was impossible.

He was a bit uncomfortable with the fact that he was using Mina’s help to win. It seemed a bit like cheating, but still: painting that fence would be a lot of work if he lost.

Mina’s wonderful plan was for him to cook a romantic dinner for Alfred.

Without any doubt, the latter would be seduced upon eating his delicious food. He would then rip his clothes off and Edward would be rewarded for all of his hard work with hot steamy sex like they used to get before he had stated they should focus on their wedding planning instead of on their carnal desires.

It all made perfect sense.

The only problem was that he had never been a great cook. He literally knew nothing about cooking.

Used to live with his mom, he had never touched a pan before he had moved out and since he had been living with Mina and Alfred, he had rarely been asked to help in the kitchen.

First, he decided he would prep some bruschettas as an appetizer, which was easier said than done. Mina had already sliced a baguette for him and had even buttered the slices.

Plus, she had precooked them.

He had insisted on doing the topping though, because how hard could it be to slice some tomatoes  and to toss them with some salt, olive oil and herbs in a bowl?

Well it was harder than he had expected it to be; that’s what it was.

He almost cut himself in the process and Princess stared at him with concern, as he sucked on his bleeding finger.

The worst was that some blood got into his mix and he had to restart from scratch.

Fifteen minutes later, his bruschettas were done, his finger was bandaged properly, and he was quite proud of himself. He had actually cooked something.

Princess, done with only staring at him, was now pacing around him in the kitchen, which was a bit unnerving, since he almost stomped on her twice.

He sighed and looked at the cooking instructions for his main course: a lasagna.

Mina had stated cooking a lasagna would be the easiest thing ever and he had gladly agreed to it.

He frowned upon reading the recipe. Was it normal half of the terms used on there were unknown to him?

***

Mina at 15.32:

**Is everything alright? I heard the smoke detector beep three times already.**

Drums at 15.43:

**What does deglaze mean?**

Mina at 15.43:

**This is for when you’ll do the sauce. :)**

Drums at 15.47:

**You mean I must prep the sauce too?**

Mina at 15.48:

**…Just don’t drop your lasagna on the bottom of the oven when it’s done.**

***

Boiling water to cook his pasta had been easy enough. In the end though, he had thrown too much pastas in his pot and had needed to throw half of them in the trash.

Then, the sauce had been another story. He had burned himself badly with the pan and Princess had managed to climb on the counter —how she did it, he couldn’t say—and had almost eaten his half-assembled lasagna.

He praised Mina for having bought shredded cheese and was even more proud of himself when he glanced at his finished product.

He was sweating like crazy when he carefully placed his lasagna in the oven and he stared at it fondly for a good 20 minutes as it was cooking.

Princess had had enough of his nonsense at that point and had gone upstairs to check on what her aunt was doing.

Mina had prepped her classic molten chocolate cakes for desserts and all he needed to do was to stick them in the oven for 15 minutes, and voilà, they would be ready to serve.

He was extremely thankful for it.

He glanced around the kitchen, freaked out upon seeing the mess he had just done, stuck everything that he could in the dishwasher, threw some extra stuff in the trash to avoid doing the dishes, glanced at his watch and cursed upon seeing Alfred would be here by any minutes now.

The only thing left was for him to enhance the mood.

His first plan was for them to eat outside, which would have been more romantic than eating in their boring kitchen, but since they were in the middle of a heatwave, he had agreed with Mina that eating under the scorching sun would be a bad idea.

After all, Alfred’s beautiful skin was very sensible to the sun.

He zoomed out as he thought about how lovely Alfred’s skin was in general and how he liked to caress it and to kiss every inch of it, when his phone buzzed.

He cursed upon seeing Alfred had just texted him stating that he would be back in fifteen minutes.

He quickly lit a candle and placed it on the middle of their kitchen table, added some fancy napkins on there as well and opened the windows furthermore, since he felt as though he was the one cooking instead of his lasagna.

He then proceeded to open a bottle of champagne he had bought just for the occasion and cursed upon opening it because the bottle opener broke in his hands.

Finally, he rushed to his bedroom to change.His hair was extra curly since it probably was 150º C inside the kitchen, but it was now too late to do anything about it.

Hopefully, he had not done all of this for nothing.

***

When Alfred opened the front door of their flat, he was met by a delicious smell.

It seemed he wouldn’t have to cook tonight and even better, it seemed Mina had launched herself into prepping food that did not seem to be containing pickles for once.

He took his sunglasses off, dropped his bag on the floor and began to wonder why Princess was not running to meet him at the door.

He turned the corner of the corridor and had to blink twice upon seeing his kitchen.

It looked all cleaned up and food really was cooking in the oven.

Hell, there even was some soft classical music playing in the background.

He was already feeling overwhelmed, when he spotted the burning candle and the fancy napkins on the table.

This was way too much.

How was he supposed to resist to that?

His boyfriend was running back in the kitchen, just as he was about to sit down.

Edward looked extra cute with his curly hair and his reddened cheeks. Plus, he seemed to have dressed up for the occasion.

**He was done for.**

He gulped loudly, feeling a drop of sweat run down his spine. “Has Mina ran upstairs to change too?”

‟No, she hasn’t even been down here since you’ve left.”

In two steps, Edward was by his side.

Alfred could feel his heart pounding wildly in his chest. ‟Why would she cook food and not eat it?”

Edward closed his arms around him. ‟Well, maybe because I was the one who cooked all of this.”

‟You cooked this. All by yourself?” He gasped as Edward pushed him against the table.

‟I did.” Edward blew the candle out and pushed the cutlery out of the way.

_Where was his resolve when he needed it the most?_

 ‟Did you cook dessert too?”It seemed his voice had dropped an octave.

Edward held him closer still and he could feel his breath against his skin. ‟I did.”

He was sitting on the edge of the table now. ‟Is there chocolate in it?”

Edward smirked. ‟There is.” He closed the distance between them and kissed him on the mouth.

Alfred sighed into the kiss. _This felt so right._

Screw this, Edward had won.

 As he laid down on the kitchen table, pulling Edward with him, he decided losing wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

As Edward was kissing his exposed neck and his hands were tangled in the latter’s curls, he decided losing was suiting him, really.

After all, winning all the time was a bit tiresome.

***

The next morning, Mina checked that Edward had left for work before she got downstairs.

She was fully aware the bet was off.

First, Alfred had not slept upstairs with her and second, her roommates had been noisier than usual—which was what she had expected in the first place.

As soon as she had heard the first ‘oooooh Edwaaaaaaard‘  she had simply closed her windows, had turned her AC on and had climbed in her own bed with Princess and her headphones on.

She had slept like a baby even though, she was sure of it, the boys had banged for a good part of the night.

Her best friend was still rolled up in his covers as she entered in his bedroom. She plopped down next to him on the bed and he quickly proceeded to tell her—in details— how things had turned out last night.

‟ -Then, I did wonder if his mom would show up like last time, but she didn’t, which was a relief. I was too far gone by that point to stop anyway.”

Mina smirked and quirked an eyebrow at him. ‟Well, I guess that’s one way to lay the table.” They both laughed at Mina’s joke as Princess yawned and sat between them. ‟Was the food any good?”

Alfred shrugged. ‟The lasagna burned down because it was still in the oven when we started to go at it, so I’ve not even tasted it.”

She rolled her eyes. ‟Alfred!”

‟I wasn’t craving food at that point.” Alfred shrugged once more.  ‟We ate your cakes though around 1.00 because we needed the extra energy.”

She cleared her throat and avoided his stare. ‟My cakes? No, you mean Edward’s.”

‟I’ve been living with you for seven years Mina. I know very well the taste of your cakes by now.” He kissed her right cheek. ‟Thank you for helping him win. This bet was a stupid idea from the start. I’ve been too distracted by the fact Edward existed to actually do some wedding planning.”

She rolled her eyes and slapped him on the arm. ‟I can’t believe you’ve had the whole summer to plan things up for your wedding and did nothing. Wasn’t this stupid bet supposed to be on just to leave you some time to do some planning in the first place?”

Alfred shrugged and batted his eyelashes at her. ‟Does this mean you are going to help me with it now?”

***

As soon as Edward had come back from his long day at work, Alfred had jumped on him and had kissed him passionately. The door hadn’t been closed for more than one minute when he firmly pushed Edward against it to deepen their kiss, which had obviously resulted in, yet again, another very loud and very rewarding make out session.

It was close to 8.00 now and their flat was already back to it’s messy state.

Alfred was wearing one of Edward’s shirt, which was too large on his frame, while the latter was wearing his sweatpants without a shirt.

He had gone back to their room to get his notes so they could finally get some work done on their guest list, while Edward was waiting for him to return. He was sitting on one  of the kitchen’s chair.

Upon his return, Alfred decided to sit on his lap instead of on his own chair, which could have been a good idea but turned out to be a bad one since the latter sat facing him.

 It now seemed obvious wedding planning was not on his mind and Edward quite frankly liked where this was all heading to.

Alfred’s mouth was only inches from his and his eyes were closed. His thick eyelashes were brushing against his skin. ‟ I swear I did some wedding planning today, but I’ve just had an idea now. I can’t focus on anything else.”

‟I'm sure I'll like your idea better.”

Edward moved his hands as to support his boyfriend while he changed the angle of how he was sitting. He then pulled Alfred closer to him still, firmly grasping him by the waist as they began to kiss very slowly.

 Alfred’s tongue was now in his mouth and his brain was quickly turning into a puddle of goo.

 He pulled his boyfriend roughly against him, making the latter gasp audibly. Things were quickly heading to the next level when suddenly, the back door banged open right behind them.

‟Honestly don’t you do anything else in here except to jump each other’s bones?”

Edward sighed as he recognized who the owner of the voice was.

It was George Paget, yet again here to ruin his sex life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear some wedding planning will be done soon!XD
> 
> Comments and kudos make my day! Xxx


	7. Wedding planning 101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry Jr helps Alfred do some wedding planning (at last).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of dialogues here, sorry! :D  
> Also, I'm referring to some events that have happened in Camp it up! in this chapter.:D

Alfred groaned loudly as Princess ran up to the door to meet George, who was one of her favorite visitors.

‟You know Riley’s class is only next week, right?” By the tone of his voice, it was clear as day Alfred was annoyed by his brother’s impromptu visit.

George shrugged as he pulled himself a chair and sat down. His broken nose was less swollen than the last time Alfred had seen him, but it was still a far cry from what it usually looked like when it wasn’t broken. ‟I know. Mama asked me to bring you something Clarence sent you and quite frankly, I needed a break from home. She is always on my back, asking me when I’ll be moving out of the house and such.” He sighed. Princess jumped on his lap and he began to pet her.

Edward sighed too as Alfred got down from his lap. He was feeling a bit self conscious, seeing he wasn’t wearing much clothes, but George seemed perfectly fine with it.

Staring at Edward’s chest wasn’t high on his priority list.

‟Are you staying for the week?” Alfred sat on the floor and leaned against the kitchen cupboard.

‟I am, but there’s worse.” George seemed apologetic, which was very unusual and did not seem to bode well. ‟I’ve brought JR with me.”

Alfred groaned loudly and facepalmed. ‟I don’t think I’ll have the patience to support him.” He glanced at his boyfriend, who was frowning out of curiosity. ‟JR is another one of my brothers. He was born between George and Clarence.”

George gave his little brother a sheepish smile.  ‟I’m sorry to say his trips around the world haven’t changed him much. I wanted to throw myself out of the car while he was driving us here.”

Both brothers sighed loudly, and Edward was now sure of it, he was going to have a headache.

There was an uncomfortable silence as Henry Junior entered their kitchen via the backyard door. The latter looked a lot like George. He had brown hair and blue eyes, just like his mother Charlotte. He glanced around the room and then looked at Edward with curiosity. He flashed the latter a smile as he sat down on the floor next to Alfred.

He pulled his youngest brother into a tight hug. ‟Hey Alfred, so glad to see you!”

Alfred patted the latter’s shoulder while George looked at his watch. ‟Same JR, same.”

There was another silence as JR studied his little brother’s face. ‟You look fatter.” He added with a fond smile.

Alfred took a deep breath and tried to smile too as George facepalmed. ‟Thank you, JR.”

Junior then looked at Edward once more as Alfred gave his boyfriend a meaningful look.

Edward grimaced because he was terrible at reading body language. Even when frowning out of desperation, his boyfriend looked stunning though.

‟Oh hey, I am Henry Junior by the way. So, you are Alfred’s new boyfriend then?” Junior smiled pleasantly at him. He too, without any doubt, had inherited the Paget’s legendary charm.

Edward held his hand out and shook Junior’s. ‟Yes, I’m Edward Drummond.”

Alfred scratched his nose as Junior opened his mouth once more. George was staring at him too.

‟You look like a good guy. You are good looking too.” He smiled. ‟I was just telling Gege he seemed to have lost some hair at the back of his head, but you clearly don’t have that problem.”

There was an awkward silence as George cursed and Princess seemed to frown at JR too. This could have been comical, but wasn’t in this case, because Alfred knew Henry Junior literally had no filter.

He was pretty sure something bad concerning his boyfriend would come out of his brother's mouth sooner than later.

‟Now that I’m looking more carefully at you, I see you have smaller shoulders than Benjamin and aren’t as tall as Brandon, Drummond." He paused."You have small hands compared to Dario too. It's too bad, since I know for sure my brother likes men with big hands.”

Both George and Alfred looked at each other as Edward clenched his jaw and wasn’t sure what he was supposed to reply.

Jr sensed some tension in the air.  He probably had said something wrong, which had always been a major problem in his life. He began to tug at the hem of his shirt and laughed awkwardly. ‟Have you done a lot of wedding planning so far?”

Princess got down from George’s knees and sniffed at Henry Junior’s feet as Edward was glancing alternatively at the three Pagets.

Alfred shrugged. ‟Well, I was in fact busy doing some wedding planning until you guys invaded my flat; I was rehearsing my wedding night.”

George burst out laughing. ‟I think you are managing that part very well.”

JR frowned at his youngest brother once more. ‟Why are you wearing such a big shirt?”

George cleared his throat. ‟It’s Edward’s, JR.”

‟Why would you wear someone else’s shirt?” Henry Jr seemed to be mystified by this.

He stared curiously at Edward and then at Alfred.

The latter pinched the bridge of his nose.

‟This is unhygienic.” Jr cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly at his little brother. ‟I really like how you’ve decorated the room though.”

Alfred sighed as he got up. ‟I’ll prep the guest room then, seeing you guys are staying the night.”

Henry Jr. groaned loudly as he pulled himself a chair next to Edward. ‟You only have one room? I’m not sleeping with George, he’s snoring!”

George, who was now roaming through the pantry in search of something to eat, stared darkly at his brother. ‟Well, that’s a good thing because I am not sleeping with you either! You stink JR. You can sleep on the couch.”

Junior looked offended. ‟Why don’t YOU sleep on the couch George?”

Alfred sighed and muttered loudly as he left the kitchen.

Edward took a deep breath and felt even more respect for Charlotte Paget.

The woman clearly was a saint.

***

As Alfred was prepping the guest room, aka sitting down on the bed and scrolling through his phone to calm down and to avoid his brother Henry Jr, George bursted into the room and plopped down on the bed next to him.

He was holding a little parcel in his hands. He handed it over to his little brother, who stared at it with curiosity.

They could hear Edward talking with Henry in the background. The latter was talking about work now, which was a safe topic.

Alfred looked at the note that was attached to the parcel and read it out loud to George:

‟A little present for your engagement and _you know what_ for your wedding. Hope you’ll like it.

Clarence”

George quirked an eyebrow at him. ‟Well, what are you waiting for? Just open it!”

‟Do you really think I’m going to open this here when JR could pop into the room at any given moment and tell everyone what’s in there? I don’t want Edward to see this.”

George rolled his eyes. ‟ You are killing me Plumpy, you really are.”

Alfred pulled his tongue out at him as George grabbed a pillow and tried to whack him on the head.

A tussle ensued.

They were chuckling as they walked back to the living room. As they were sitting down on the couch, Mina was just coming downstairs to investigate what was going on.

She was wearing her favorite pink pajamas and she had lazily tied her hair into a pony tail.

Edward seemed relieved to see everyone back into the room to save him from Henry’s obnoxious comments. He quickly stated he was tired, got up and vanished into his bedroom.

Mina leaned against the wall as Jr studied her profile.

 ‟Mina, don’t take this badly, but did you get a boob job?” began Jr as she rolled her eyes and assured him she had not.

Both then continued to exchange news as George frowned.

It was true Mina seemed to have suddenly taken some weight. Her body had changed too.

He scratched his chin.

 Alfred glanced at him curiously.

Suddenly, George gasped loudly as realization dawned on him.

 It was now suddenly all so clear.

The bigger boobs, the sudden intake of weight, the frequent trips to the loo during their camping trip, Alfred being super protective around her and doing some of her chores were all pointing to one thing: Wilhelmina was pregnant.

Alfred gave him a pointed look as George took his phone out from his pocket and sent him a text. He needed to know if his suspicions were confirmed and obviously, they couldn’t do so out loud.

Gege P. at 9.15:

**How far along is she?**

Alf at 9.15:

**13 weeks. Her first trimester is over.**

George glanced at his brother, who scratched his nose.

Gege P. at 9.16:

**Is it Septimus’?**

Alfred nodded. George looked at Mina more closely.

Yep, she definitively was beginning to show a little. He could clearly see it now.

Gege P. at 9.17:

**Damn, he did not loose time! He was here what, a month?**

**When is she going to tell mama?**

Alf at 9.18:

**When he’ll get back, which should be very soon.**

**Junior must not learn about this, or else, he’s going to tell the whole world about it.**

***

On Monday morning, after a weekend spent with JR and George, Mina and Alfred where finally back to work at Worthington.

They were setting their office up after being absent for almost two months, placing their desks back to their usual spot, getting their computers running and Alfred setting up new pictures on the bulletin board that was on their wall, when Mina decided they needed a refill on their coffees.  

Alfred offered to get them some and Mina blew him a kiss in gratitude. Her feet were killing her lately.

He was just getting into the staff room to get said coffee, when he saw Harriet was talking with Cleary and Gabriella close to the fridge.

He was ready for some gossiping, which was one of the things he liked the most about his job.

As he got closer to them, they stopped talking and gave him a funny look.

Harriet cleared her throat. ‟Hey Alfred, how are you doing?”

‟ Great, how about you ladies?” He winked at them and leaned against the fridge.

The three teachers smiled pleasantly, but Alfred immediately felt something was off.

There was a polite silence before Harriet cleared her throat once more.

‟Love your mug, by the way.” She smiled as Alfred showed his mug around.It was all black with a single line written in blue on it: 'I am enGAYged'.

‟My brother Clarence sent it to me as a gift for my engagement.” He shrugged as Gabriella began to toy with her watch.

‟Oh, so you are still engaged.” Added Cleary as an afterthought. Harriet laughed awkwardly.

‟Eh, yes. I am.” Another awkward silence.

The three teachers smiled at him once more and Cleary even patted him lightly on the shoulder.

 He frowned but flashed them a smile anyway as he refilled his and Mina’s coffees. When he left the room seconds later, the three women were still staring at him.

He would need to ask Mina if she knew what was going on, because clearly, his colleagues were gossiping behind his back.

***

If Henry Jr was extremely annoying because of his honesty, he also had some good traits too. He was great at planning things, for one. Used to work as an independent consultant for his father’s company, he was used to deadlines and to plan things out with excruciating details.

He was absolutely horrified to learn his little brother and his fiancé had done NOTHING so far as wedding planning went. They were supposed to get married at the end of November, because it was around that time they had first met and had begun dating —which George had qualified as utterly sappy— yet they hadn’t booked a venue yet.

Armed with his patience and his portable computer, Jr had quickly put in place an Excel spreadsheet to note down all the details and the costs related to his unconscious and irresponsible little brother’s wedding.

While Jr was typing things on his computer, George was playing to a video game in the living room and listened distractedly to what was going on in the kitchen, commenting occasionally on what either Junior or Alfred was saying. Edward was sitting next to him on the couch and was trying to complete a  difficult crossword, while Alfred was doodling in his weekly planner as he sipped a hot cocoa.

It was still 30ºC outside, yet drinking hot cocoa seemed to be the only thing that was calming the latter down when Jr was concerned.

Princess, like a good girl, was resting on her Papa’s lap.

Jr sneezed loudly, He then turned his attention back to his screen. “What’s your budget?”

Alfred looked up from his doodling and gave his brother a blank stare. ‟Good question…I don’t know.”

‟Your boyfriend is an accountant and you don’t have a budget for your wedding.” Jr groaned so loudly out of desperation that Princess jumped in surprise from Alfred’s lap and growled at him.

George cursed, since he missed what he wanted to achieve in his game as Edward was really wondering what seven letters word he was supposed to find at number #11.

He got up to retrieve his dictionary from his library, which was in the guest room, unaware of the conversation that was going on in the kitchen.

Jr made an annoyed noise with his tongue. The kind of noises that was getting on Alfred’s nerve in 0.2 seconds flat. ‟Okay, so I think you two are idiots, but still.” He shrugged.

‟Or dicks.” chimed in George as Alfred gave him a dark look. The oldest Paget smirked at him. ‟What? You know the saying, we are what we eat.”

Jr rolled his eyes and shook his head as Alfred ripped a page out of his notebook and aimed at George’s nose. Luckily for him, Alfred missed his aim. After all, his nose was still very painful. ‟Who are you going to invite?”

Alfred shrugged. ‟I have a list of about 100 people.”

Edward, just back from the guest room with the answer to his crossword, freaked out upon hearing his boyfriend’s answer. ‟WHAT, 100? I had 20 folks at most on mine.”

Alfred shrugged as George snickered in the background. ‟Well it was hard to choose. I had 500 at first.”

‟Gosh Babe, how big do you think this wedding is going to be?”

Alfred scratched his nose and avoided his boyfriend’s stare. ‟Bigger than you thought it would be, it seems.”

‟Awkward.” Muttered George in the background.

Alfred took a sip of his cocoa as Jr was typing down the info he was getting. ‟Where do you want it to be?”

Edward stared at him as Alfred was getting up to refill his mug. ‟A room somewhere? Or outside?”

Alfred sighed. ‟Edward, it’s going to be close to winter! We can’t possibly marry outside! What about the Threave House? East Ayrshire? A castle like Langdale?”

George gave his little brother a thumb up, as Jr was looking at those places online.

Edward frowned at his boyfriend. Clearly, this was a bit excessive.  

It was the first time since he had proposed they were talking about those things and obviously they weren’t on the same page. “Do you have any idea of how costly this is going to be?”

Alfred quirked an eyebrow at his boyfriend. ‟It’s the only wedding I am going to get. I want it to be perfect.”

George cursed once more. He dropped his controller on the floor, got up and walked back to the pantry to fetch more food.

‟Our priority this week will be your venue and your guest list Alf. Then, we will need to plan your honeymoon.” Jr was still writing things down on his spreadsheet.

George was about to comment on this, but Alfred, who seemed to be in a bad mood, silenced him with a deathly glare.

He shrugged as Edward continued to note down his answers on his crossword.

‟Good. This means we only need to figure out your food options, what you are going to wear, the size of your wedding party, if you are going to rent a car, who is going to take the pictures during the big day and if you want a joint bachelor party and such.”

Edward’s head was spinning by now. He folded his crossword and began to rub his neck.

There were so many things to do and so little time left, it was frankly overwhelming. Plus, it was now obvious Alfred seemed crossed by his answers.

Would they be able to do everything in time?

***

Sept at 6.37 :

**I was supposed to be back at the end of the month, but I’m still stuck here for at least another three weeks. Could you do me a solid and take Mina out to buy maternity clothes?**

**I’ll give you the money once I get back home.**

Alf at 7.40:

**No problem! I was thinking of treating her to a pedicure as well.**

**Your girlfriend is beautiful and she’s starting to show!**

**I’ll go at Emma’s place next week. It’s been ages since I went there.**

*******

During the rest of their first week back at work, Alfred and Mina were extremely busy with paperwork and last-minute documents Mr. Peel needed for the start of the school year.

Their colleagues were still acting a bit strangely towards Alfred and Mina wasn’t sure of what was going on either.

 It was all very mysterious.

Their office was usually THE official place to talk trash and to dish about everyone, but not this time.

It seemed Alfred and she were the object of the gossiping, but they couldn’t point out what this was all about.

George and Jr were still hanging out at their house and Alfred couldn’t wait to see them both leave.

Well, at least, thanks to Jr, his wedding planning was finally going somewhere, but it seemed Edward wasn’t on board with his ideas. The two had had some heated arguments about every little details throughout the week and he felt a bit moody.

Add to that the fact Edward was adamant they shouldn’t sleep together anymore before his brothers had left their flat and you had a fair portrait of the disaster that was his current life situation.

He had Jr to thank for all of this as well, since the latter had opened the wrong door as he was leaving the restroom late one night and had an eyeful.

And a very graphic eyeful at that.

In fact, even he was feeling faint upon thinking about the whole thing still.

Obviously, Jr had screamed at the top of his lungs upon realizing his mistake. He had slammed the door behind him, but it was already too late. Both Mina and George had rushed to the living room and everyone had ended up in their bedroom, where Jr, unable to keep quiet had explained what he had just witnessed with so much details it was amazing what his brain had registered in pitch dark at three in the morning.

Edward, sure he was going to have a heart attack after that incident, had ended up sleeping on the couch while George had decided he would sleep in the car and Princess had slept with Alfred in the bed to keep his poor papa company.

It was a good thing Riley’s self-defence class was fast approaching, because he definitively needed the distraction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are LIFE!


	8. Sibling bonding time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred has a lot to think about, Mina discovers something horrible and Gege is desperate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> English is not my first language. Sorry if there are mistakes Xxx

Riley’s class was crowded.

 ** _Very_ ** crowded.

There were more than 40 students in the room, something both Alfred and George were very impressed by.  The two were almost late since they had taken the bus to get there and George was already out of breath seeing they had to run to the place to actually be on time.

Alfred glanced around the room while George, feeling overjoyed by the prospect of seeing the femme fatale of his dreams, went to drop their bag in the changing room.

Most students were young women around Alfred’s age or very old ones.

There was only one other guy in the room and some girls were looking at him with curiosity, which meant he probably was new to class too.

He was standing close to Riley, who waved at Alfred upon recognizing him.

George, back from the changing room, pushed his way through the crowd and smirked at Riley as he walked up to his brother.

She blatantly ignored him.

The red head looked amazing with her black high waist leggings and matching sports bra. Her arms were toned and her belly was strikingly flat. Her beautiful red locks were tied into a bun and she was wearing a hot pink sports watch on her right wrist.

She glanced at it before she cleared her throat.

Everyone stopped to talk at once and stared back at her.

Well everyone except George, who was smiling like an idiot and was snickering for no reason.

The oldest Paget wasn’t that confident when it came down to women he truly was interested in, and it seemed Riley Kelly was everything he had ever wanted.

Alfred elbowed him in the ribs to make him stop, which turned out to be very effective.

Riley cleared her throat a second time before she looked at the crowd. Her eyes were a mesmerizing shade of green. ‟Hello everyone! I am pleased to see you again this week! As you can see, we have new members with us tonight. Here, on the left, we have my friend Alfred Paget.” The latter smiled charmingly and someone loudly exclaimed from the back of the room ‘ _What a cutie!_ _‘_ which provoked general laughter in the audience. ‟The guy standing next to him is his brother, whom I don’t remember the name, but have broken the nose a few weeks ago.”

There was an impressed gasp all around as George waved. ‟My name is George, by the way.”

Riley continued to ignore him.

George, his eyes still glued on the red head, whispered loudly to his little brother. ‟Do you think she likes me so far?”

Alfred facepalmed and shrugged.

Riley was now pointing to the other guy, the one who was standing close to her.  The latter had messy dark hair, thick glasses and broad shoulders. ‟This beautiful man here is my good friend Alexander Dimitroff.”

Alexander waved timidly to the class as Riley began to explain what self-defence move they would practice tonight.

Alfred gasped as he looked at Alexander. ‟I did not know Russians were so handsome.”

George stared at the guy with jealousy. ‟Do you think he’s dating her?”

 ‟My gaydar is going off the charts. He’s gay.” Alfred scratched his nose.  ‟He might even be gayer than me.”

Riley was now demonstrating tonight’s move with a volunteer, who wasn’t George, to the latter’s utter despair.

They were supposed to practice the knife hand strike in pairs, but the oldest Paget kept glancing at Riley, who was walking around the room as she checked everyone’s technique. Obviously, this resulted in Alfred getting hit twice in the face for no reason.

It was now George’s turn to play the assailant. He glanced around the room as Alfred was getting ready to strike him. ‟The Russian is checking you out and so are every woman under 60 in this room.”

Alfred rolled his eyes as he aimed his blow at his brother’s neck. ‟Yeah, and the ladies over 60 are checking **you** out.”

After a good 20 minutes of this, they switched roles once more. Riley pointedly ignored George, who was doing his best to get her attention every time she walked by, as he purposely messed with his technique.

Soon enough, the class was over, and everyone was biding farewell to their teacher. Both Pagets took their sweet time to change in the locker room, just to get some alone time with her.

After all, Alfred was here to help his big brother hook up with Riley in the first place.

As they left the changing room, Alexander was leaning against the wall and Riley was putting her coat on.

She flashed the two brothers a smile, her green eyes shinning with pride. ‟How did you like my class?”

‟It was great, I-”began Alfred before George pushed him roughly against the wall.

He smirked. ‟Did you see how great I was?”

Riley frowned at him with annoyance as Alfred sighed. ‟You are pathetic.”

George smiled stupidly. Alfred cleared his throat. It seemed he would need to save the day once again.‟I have a Zumba class on Wednesdays, maybe you’d like to come see it too?”

Riley seemed thrilled by the idea. ‟Oh yes, this sounds fun. I’ve heard Zumba is very fun but physically demanding.” She looked at her friend, who was ogling Alfred. ‟ Alexander will tag along. Right Alexander?”

George frowned at Alexander as Alfred pointedly ignored him.

Riley gave a quick hug to Alfred as he was leaving and barely tilted her head in George’s direction.

The latter blew her a kiss nonetheless as Alexander was looking at them leave with a blank expression on his face.

***

It was close to midnight already, since they had missed the bus by a few minute and had to wait for a second one, when George, who was feeling underwhelmed by his evening, had suggested they should stop to get a drink at a local coffee shop before they headed back to Alfred’s place.

Jr and George were supposed to leave in the next few days, to both Alfred and Edward’s relief.

Even Mina was getting exhausted by Jr’s constant presence, which was something, because she was known by the Paget family for her legendary patience.

Alfred was drinking a Piccolo latte to which he added three more spoonfuls of sugar, while George was turning his spoon in his Macchiato.

The oldest Paget sighed dramatically. ‟I guess this class wasn’t a success. I don’t know why, but Riley seemed indifferent to my charm.” He dropped his spoon on the table. ‟Alexander is obviously very interested by you though.”

Alfred shrugged as he sent a text to Mina on his phone. ‟I don’t care, I’m not. Poor guy should know I’m already taken.”

George pulled his own phone out. ‟He’s good looking though and he’s your type.”

Alfred took a sip of his drink. ‟Edward is my soulmate.”

‟How do you know he’s the One?” George frowned as he tried to very carefully scratch his painful nose.

‟The first time I laid eyes on Edward, I already knew it. It was all surreal. I swear angels were singing and-” George rolled his eyes as Alfred kicked him under the table. ‟I’ve never felt anything even remotely close to what I feel for Edward ever in my life. I just knew all along I needed to be with him.  Almost a year later, every time he looks at me, my heart still beats madly in my chest and I feel as though my skin is on fire and the only thing that can quench this fire is his touch.”

‟Either that or you are just a horny bastard and he’s good in bed.” George snorted. ‟Gosh, this is both sappy and very cliché. ”

‟You are the one who asked that question in the first place.” Alfred downed his drink and began to toy with a napkin that had been left on their table.

George looked sideways just to be sure no one was listening to their conversation. He lowered his voice. ‟This conversation is going to be awkward, but do you think I am attractive?” He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head. ‟If you were not my brother, would you want to bang me?”

Alfred quirked and eyebrow at him and smirked. ‟In other words, you want to know why Riley isn’t swooning over you, right?”

‟Yeah, something along those lines,” humbly replied the tall brunet. He took a sip of his coffee.

‟Well, Jr was right about this, you have less hair on the back of your head.”

George rolled his eyes and groaned.

‟Also, you are 36 and are still living at our parents’s place. That’s not very attractive.”

George pursed his lips. He seemed to be highly doubting his little brother’s words but kept on listening anyway.

Alfred went on and on. ‟Maybe if you dressed better? Was more careful with what you are saying? Acted like a gentleman instead of like a big idiot? Stopped saying stupid jokes and inappropriate comments all the time?”

George looked scandalized. ‟How can you say such a thing? Chicks have always loved my sense of humor, thank you very much!” Alfred blinked twice and crossed his arms on his chest.  He sighed. ‟Alright, you win.”

***

Bae at 9.27:

**What about this place?**

 <http://www.lochawe.co.uk/>

**I was thinking, maybe we could do a very small and private ceremony, as you wanted.**

**Then, the rest of our guests could join us at another location for the rest of the reception.**

**Jr found that place:**

<https://www.taychregganhotel.co.uk/>

**What do you think?**

Edward D. at 12.37:

**I’ve just checked the links you’ve sent me.**

**I was sleeping on my keyboard.**

**I like that idea. Seems like a good compromise.**

Bae at 12.40:

**Are you angry?**

Edward D. 12.41:

**No, why?**

Bae at 12.42:

**Since I’m a socialite and I think 100 guests clearly isn’t enough.**

Edward D. 12.44:

**As a recluse, I dare say this is way too much.**

Bae at 12.45:

**You are not just a recluse, you are _my_ recluse. **

**I’ll see who I can take off my list.**

**Sorry for my idiotic and annoying brothers too.**

Edward D. at 12.47:

**You know what we should do with them?**

Bae at 12.48:

**Throw them out? Send them on another planet? Try to sell them on Ebay?**

Edward D. at 12.49:

**Even better, we are going to put locks on both of our bedroom doors. Big locks.**

**After all, how hard can using a hammer and a screwdriver be ?**

Bae at 12.50:

**Are you saying you are going to stroll around the house and do handiwork?**

**SIGN ME UP NOW!**

**Bonus point if you do this in your underwear!**

**Extra bonus point if you do it naked…**

Edward D. at 12.51:

**I knew you would be all for it.**

 

***

Sept at 8.36:

**LMAO Gege sent me pictures of you cleaning the bathroom floor with a toothbrush!**

**I have a mind to post those on Facebook, tbh.**

Alf at 8.45:

**I’ve already posted those on mine XD**

**Also, I’ve just received my invitations. What do you think?**

[ ](http://tinypic.com?ref=15f3cjn)

Sept at 8.50:

**BEAUTIFUL!**

**Can you believe you are to be married soon and I am going to be a dad not long after that?!?**

**Btw, I’m on my way to the airport. I should be home in a week from now.**

Alf at 8.52:

**I bloody can, since my best woman, who is helping me put my 80 invitations cards in envelopes is eating ice cream with pickles in place of a spoon as I am texting you.**

**Jr is writing the address down on each envelope.**

**Even Gege is helping. He is adding the stamps.**

**I’m BLESSED!**

Sept at 9.00:

**Where is your fiancé?**

Alf at 9.03:

**He’s spending the night at work.**

Sept at 9.10:

**You sure he’s spending the night at work? Seems he’s often there lately.**

**BTW, I have had an idea for the house. I’ll send you a document by mail.**

**Tell me what you think and if it’s feasible.**

Alf at 9.13:

**Will do!**

***

Finally, after a whole week of sticking around and not doing much except being a bother, George and Jr were back to their parents’ place.

Edward was still doing mad hours at work, but at least our favorite couple was back to cuddling, kissing and banging when and where they wanted to, since they had regained their privacy.

Things were still a bit weird at school for Alfred, but since the school year had now officially started, the gossiping had died down a bit.

Nancy Francatelli had promised she would try to find out more about it, since she was friend with Cleary, but had still not come back to him with an answer yet.

As he had promised to his brother Septimus, Alfred had taken Mina on a shopping spree.

The two friends had spent a pleasant day so far.

At fifteen weeks, Mina was beginning to show and was in desperate need of new comfortable and fitting clothes.

So far, the two had eaten a good dinner at a new place and Mina had had a pedicure done.

Alfred had then offered to take her to his friend Emma’s shop, stating Septimus was going to pay for everything she would buy at his friend’s boutique.

The shop was located close to the Scottish border. It had been years since Alfred had been there, but the place still looked as elegant as he remembered it to be.

As soon as they had entered the boutique via a French door, an employee, a girl whom Alfred had never met before, with short golden hair and brown eyes, had greeted them with warmth.

She was a bit taller than Mina and seemed to be around their age.

 ‟What can I do for you today?” The girl smiled and winked at Mina. ‟Are you looking for some naughty lingerie to impress your husband? This is one of our specialties.”

Mina blushed and began to fidget with her bracelets at once.

Alfred chuckled. ‟Mina is not my wife.” There was an uncomfortable silence as the employee avoided his stare. ‟We are here to buy some maternity clothes. That is unless you want to buy lingerie to surprise Sept since he is coming back next week, Mina?” He grinned as his best friend who blushed furthermore and slapped him on the arm.

The girl looked mortified. She was blushing and seemed a bit uncomfortable. ‟I’m sorry, I saw your ring and assumed that-”

‟Is there something wrong?” A woman’s voice rose from the back store as a tall dark-haired woman came into view. As soon as she spotted Alfred, a grin spread on her face. ‟Goodness, if it’s not Alfie Paget! Long time no see babe.”

Alfred smiled back and walked towards her. ‟Hey Em, my darling.”

They hugged each other and Emma kissed him on both cheeks.

Both the employee and Mina stared at them.

The employee cleared her throat. ‟You know each other?”

Emma smiled at the girl. ‟Absolutely! We were on the cheerleading squad together at uni.”

Alfred shrugged. ‟Since Victoria has moved out to Germany, I don’t get to come here as often as I used to. My best friend and future sister-in-law Mina here, is not a fan of lingerie and fashion in general.”

Said best friend pulled her tongue out at him before she began to browse the maternity section.

A few minutes later, she was already trying some outfits on, leaving the dressing room every time she was wearing a new one and listening to Alfred’s advice about how fitting each one was and if the color choice was suiting her. The employee was folding shirts on a table nearby and Emma was chatting with Alfred.

‟Show me that ring of yours.” Emma winked as Alfred happily complied. ‟ I hope your fiancé knows how lucky he is.” The employee coughed politely. Emma stared at her.  ‟Oh, you can go to the cash register dear.”

As soon as the girl had left, Emma turned around and began to whisper with a conspiratorial tone. ‟She’s a bit sore about engagements and such. She used to be engaged to her ex-boyfriend. I don’t know the whole story, but her boyfriend discovered he was gay a few months before their wedding day. Seems he hadn’t figured things out beforehand. She even discovered he had been on night-stands with other men while they were still dating. Of course, he broke their engagement. It’s been almost three years, but still. ”

The story struck Mina as odd.

Strangely, she kept thinking about Drummond.

This employee’s story strangely reminded her of his own story.

In fact, everything fitted, except he hadn’t cheated on his ex.

She probably was imagining things.

She walked to the cash register to pay as Alfred and Emma were still catching up on each other’s life in the background.

The employee pointed to Mina’s small baby bump. ‟When is your baby due?”

She smiled sweetly at her. ‟For the end of March.” The girl smiled back.

As she was ringing her order up, Mina studied her profile and distractedly looked at her name tag.

The girl’s name was Florence.

It was such a cute name, really.

She was about to say so, when a thought struck her.

Wasn’t Edward’s ex called Florence?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUM DUM DUUUUUUUM!  
> Comments and kudos are LIFE and motivate me to write!


	9. RSVP

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Septimus is back, the boys talk about their wedding (we are getting there) and Mina is growing more and more suspicious with every new chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear Princess knows things. She really does.  
> Alfred should really listen to her…

The day Septimus was finally back from Brazil had been a joyous one.

The latter originally had been supposed to be gone for a mere two months but those had finally stretched into four.

Renowned for his unmatched luck, he had been hired as an attorney by a friend of a friend for a very complicated case days before his scheduled departure, which had caused the delays.

Obviously, he had won his case and had been outrageously paid for it.

The first thing he did when he landed in England was to buy a gigantic bouquet for his girlfriend and a car, which made him the first of the seven Paget sons to own one (a fact he would probably rub in Richard’s face until his dying breath).

Since his return, Mina had forgotten all about _the Florence incident_ and had decided not to talk about it to Alfred.

After all, there was no need to create drama a mere two months before his wedding.

She wasn’t even sure if the employee at Emma’s boutique was Edward’s ex in the first place anyway.

The blonde had literally been beaming since the return of her man and had invited Charlotte and Henry over to her place the next weekend. She would finally reveal her pregnancy, something that was more than due since she was having her first ultrasound in three weeks.

Alfred was glad to see his brother too. Septimus had always been one of his favorite brothers along with George and Clarence.

The two were so close in age (Septimus was a mere 11 months older than his brother) and looked so much alike, they might as well had been twins.

The only difference in their physical appearance was that Septimus’s eyes were brown, while Alfred’s were a deep shade of blue.

Well, that and the fact that he did not have Alfred’s impeccable fashion sense.

While Mina and Alfred were away to see a movie —a romantic comedy both Edward and Septimus were perfectly fine with skipping—, Edward had offered to look at the reply cards for the wedding they had received so far and Septimus had offered to look at them with him.

The two were sitting on the porch as Princess was playing around them with her favorite stuffed toy.

The sun was setting and their only neighbour, Violet, was busy watering her flowers. She waved at them before she went on with her gardening.

Both men were opening cards and scratching off the names of the guests who had confirmed their presence on a list Jr had created in Excel.

‟Obviously, your parents and all of your brothers are coming.” Edward scratched the myriad of Pagets from Jr’s list.

‟I’m surprised Richard will attend. Mama is probably forcing him to. He hates social gatherings.” Septimus opened another envelope. ‟The Francatellis will be there too, but you probably knew that already. By the way, how do you like your job at the bakery?”

‟I like it so far. When things calm down, I might look for something in the political field.”

Septimus flashed him a grin. A grin so like Alfred’s it was a bit odd to Edward.

It lacked Alfred’s natural warmth though.

‟Really? Sounds like a good idea. You can scratch your aunt Diane off. She says she will gladly be present to her favorite nephew’s wedding.”

Edward chuckled softly. ‟I’m her only nephew, I better be her favorite.  Here, I have a card from Alfred’s friend Victoria. She wrote, and I quote ‘Yes, bitch. ‘” He quirked an eyebrow at the other man who laughed out loud.

‟That’s Vicky alright.  You’ll see, she is awesome. She was in the cheerleading squad with Alf.”

‟I guess Claudia, Clara and Anastasia are from the cheer squad too?”

Septimus took a sip of water and grabbed the list back to scratch off some more names. ‟Anastasia was in one of his dance classes if I remember correctly.”

‟He took dance classes?”

‟Oh yes. He even did gymnastics. Papa wanted him to do sports too, like we all did, so he was in the football team too.”

‟Really?” Edward grabbed the list back and scratched two more names.

Things were going along well.

‟Yeah. He was a goalie, but that didn’t last long.” Septimus scratched his arm and swatted a mosquito. ‟He kept doing somersaults and cartwheels instead of checking his goal. The team threw him out after a while.”

Edward snorted as images of Alfred playing football as a young boy flooded his mind. He would need to ask Charlotte for pictures the next time he saw her.

Princess barked behind him, which brought him back to reality.

‟We have received 40 replies so far, which is great. It means we are only missing 30 cards. So far, we only have six guests who said they wouldn’t come.” Edward cleared his throat and began to rub the back of his neck, something he did when he was nervous. ‟Hey Sept, have you seen my mother’s reply? Her name is Frances.”

Septimus took another sip of water and checked the list and some of the cards that were laying on the table.  ‟No. Maybe she was too busy to reply?” He cleared his throat. ‟I don’t know how to break this to you, but you are squinting.”

‟I’m not squinting.” Edward frowned and checked what Princess was doing in the background.

Septimus frowned back at him. ‟You bloody are. Are you having troubles with your eyesight?”

He shrugged. ‟I don’t think so.”

‟You should get your eyes checked. You remind me of William before he had his glasses. Hopefully, you won’t need to wear glasses or else, I know someone who is really going to wear you out.”

Both men snorted as Princess stared at them with curiosity.

***

‟Who keeps texting you?”

It was the middle of the afternoon on a rainy Sunday and our favorite couple was lazing around on their living room couch.

They were cuddling and listening to a podcast about Scottish political debates, Alfred’s head under the crook of his boyfriend’s arm as he rested against Edward’s chest and listened to his heartbeat.

 All was perfect until his phone began to buzz repeatedly. Someone was blowing up his phone and for once it wasn’t his boyfriend.

He rolled on his back and retrieved said phone from the left pocket of his pajama pants.

He frowned as his boyfriend pulled him closer, his head resting in the crook of his neck. ‟It’s Jr.”

‟What does he want?” Edward’s voice was a bit muffled.

‟Don’t panic, but he has just sent me the costs for the two venues, for the ceremony and for the food.” Alfred scrolled through the various texts.

Edward propped himself on his elbow and stared down at him. ‟How much is it?”

Alfred flashed him a contrite smile. ‟Not too bad, about £12 000.”

Edward gasped. It was a bit more than what he had expected so far. ‟And we are not even done.”

Alfred shrugged and pushed Edward’s head back down on his chest. ‟You know, we only have the costs of the cake, of our clothes and of our decorations to add to that.”

‟Only those,” Edward replied sarcastically.

Alfred shrugged and dropped his phone on the nearby coffee table. ‟What should we do with our decorations? Should we go with a vintage feel? A bohemian touch? Modern and luxurious? Cozy chic maybe?” He scratched his nose. “Definitively cozy chic.

‟I really don’t know what language you are speaking right now, but I trust your choice. You can do whatever you want, but please don’t let it be too costly.”

‟I can do whatever I want?” Alfred smirked. ‟Could you write this down on a piece of paper for me Mr. Drummond and sign the paper and add your initials next to every word?”

Edward snorted and began to nuzzle his neck.

‟We also have our honeymoon to plan. You know the cute little house where we are going to hold our ceremony?

‟Hum.” Replied Edward distractedly since he was still busy nuzzling at his boyfriend’s neck. He was alternating between kissing and blowing on his skin and he could feel Alfred’s heartbeat getting faster and faster with every new kiss.

‟Well, we can stay there for a whole week with no extra costs. That is if you think this is a good idea. It could count as a very cheap honeymoon.”

Edward stopped his kissing and smirked at his boyfriend. ‟Are you saying we are going to stay a whole week all alone in the middle of nowhere?”

A smile crept on Alfred’s face. ‟Yep.”

Edward had a smug smile on his face as he slowly rolled on top of his boyfriend who wrapped his arms around his waist. ‟But what are we going to do during this whole week?”

Princess yawned and turned around on the carpet to find a more comfortable spot to rest.

Alfred licked his lips as Edward stared down at him with lust in his eyes. “Find Nessie’s girlfriend?” They kissed. ‟Ice-skate?” Another kiss. ‟ Stroll in the snow?” More kisses.

‟Or, we could just stay in bed the whole week. “added Edward innocently.

‟Maybe.” Alfred snorted as Edward kissed him once more.

It really was a nice afternoon; until they heard a loud knock on their front door.

And a second one, this time more insistent.

Edward pulled back as Alfred sighed. ‟Please don’t tell me it’s one of your brothers.”

The blond sighed and shrugged as he got up and slowly walked up to the door.

He cursed out loud twice as a reply.

Three minutes later, he was back in the living room with one of his brothers in tow.

Of course, it was George.

It was always George.

The latter was smiling from ear to ear and was probably fully aware he was being a nuisance to his baby brother and his boyfriend.

Which was something he truly enjoyed.

The tall brunet was holding a glass bowl in his hands and Princess was staring at it with curiosity. She was wagging her tail and followed him closely around the room.

‟That’s right I’m back boys and this time, I’ve brought Winston with me.”

Edward sighed as Alfred sat back down next to him, quickly getting his legs over his lap as Edward wrapped his arms around his waist to pull him closer.

‟You brought your goldfish for a visit? You are crazier than I thought.” Alfred snorted. ‟In fact, at this point, you are a desperate case Gege.”

‟Don’t worry boys, I’m only going to stay here for a month or so.” George placed Winston on a shelf and crossed his arms.

Edward blinked twice. ‟A month?”

George bent down to pet Princess who barked happily. ‟Yep, and this is all thanks to you, Plumpy.”

Edward sighed and pinched Alfred’s butt, who swatted his hand away. ‟Why didn’t you ask me in the first place?”

Alfred rubbed the bridge of his nose and inhaled deeply. ‟Maybe because I was not aware of it in the first place, Edward?”

‟Plumpy, you were right. I’ve thought about some of the things you’ve said the other night and I’ve asked for a transfer at work. I’ve just bought the lot behind your house. It was time I had my own place anyway. The construction should start before the end of the week.” George shrugged as both Edward and Alfred were staring at him incredulously. ‟Until then, I’ll sleep here and at Septimus’s place. You won’t even know I’m here.”

The older Paget placed his legs on the coffee table and Princess jumped happily on the couch next to him. ‟So, what are we having for lunch?”

***

It was a boring Tuesday night and Alfred was sprawled on his couch as he watched a crappy reality TV show with Princess.

You know, the kind of shows where a desperate guy is meeting his date for the first time and brings her to an awkward place for dinner?

 _That_ kind of show.

Truly this show was rubbish, but he had a headache and he had had yet again another shitty day at work because everyone was still gossiping behind his back.

Edward was out for the night to workout with George, since Ernst had decided getting fit wasn’t the best idea he had had to get girls in the first place.

He said it took too much work for the results he was getting.

Which was why Alfred was spending a quiet evening with Princess resting on his legs. His puppy seemed to be listening to the show too. He was distractedly petting her head when he felt his phone buzz in his back pocket.

He was too busy cringing at what the guy had just said to the girl on the screen to check his phone and forgot about the text.

Until it buzzed a second time a few minutes later.

And a third time.

Princess glanced at him as he finally pulled his phone out from his back pocket and frowned upon seeing he did not know who the sender of the texts was.

Unknown sender at 7.32:

**Hey, it’s Alexander, Riley’s friend. We were wondering if you would like to eat with us before we go to your Zumba class?**

**I’m adding you on Facebook.**

Unknown sender at 7.35:

**I really like your profile picture. You really look good on it.**

Unknown sender at 8.10:

**In fact, you look good in all of your pictures, just saying.**

**We could meet at 6.00 and head to your class afterwards?**

Alfred looked at Princess, who tilted her head on the side as if she too was considering what he should reply.

 It was obvious Alexander was flirting with him, which was a bit weird since he was listed as engaged on Facebook and Riley had met Edward on their camping trip last August.

But having him flirt with him might help him to get George with Riley, which was what he wanted to do in the first place.

Princess seemed to doubt his matchmaking abilities and barked as if to warn him as he texted Alexander back.

Alf P. at 8.12:

**Hey thanks. Sorry, I’m watching crappy TV with my dog, which is why I wasn’t replying earlier.**

**Sounds like a plan. Where do you want us to meet?**

Alexander at 8.15:

**Hey, no problem. What about Kelliwik Café? I’m guessing we shouldn’t be eating too much before your class, right?**

Alf P. at 8.17:

**Perfect. I’ll look it up.**

Alexander at 8.17:

**Awesome. Have fun watching your show. :D**

Alfred then sent a text to his brother George to tell him the good news.

**We are going to eat with Riley before my class. YOU BETTER NOT MESS THIS UP.**

As he was about to put his phone away, he had second thoughts about what he was doing.

He wasn’t really flirting with Alexander, but he hadn’t turned him down either.

Should he tell everything to Edward once he was back home?

Probably not.

 His boyfriend was ridiculously jealous. It probably wasn’t a good idea to tell him about this. Edward could overreact and do something stupid, as he often did when guys who showed an interest in him or his exes were mentioned.  

He decided to text his boyfriend.

**Hello Gorgeous. How’s your training so far? Xxxx I love you.**

He really was about to put his phone away when he saw Princess was still looking at him.

‟Emma-Alexandra Paget-Drummond stop staring at your papa like that young lady. I’m doing all of this for your uncle.”

Princess tilted her head on the side and barked once. It seemed she was feeling this was a very bad idea.

*******

It was just an ordinary Wednesday morning at Worthingtons.

Mina was sending a document to her boss while Alfred was cleaning the fresh injury a kindergartner had on his knee when Nancy Francatelli bursted into their office.

She was out of breath and looked thrilled. She closed the door behind her and flashed a victorious smile to Mina.

‟I’ve found out what is going on.” She quickly exclaimed with a smug look on her face as Mina stopped her typing and turned around to face her.

Alfred was just done applying a colorful bandage on the child’s wound as she sat on the edge of his desk.

Nancy waited for the little boy to leave, which took another good five minutes since he was in tears, before she went on with what she had to say.

‟Alright Alf, sit down. I swear you are going to flip.” She licked her lips.

Alfred sighed and did as he was told as Mina frowned at Nancy.

‟Okay, so your boyfriend met Harriet at Brodriggy a couple of weeks ago.” She scratched her neck.  ‟You know, it’s the small pharmacy on Church street.”

Alfred nodded. ‟Yes, and what happened?”

‟Well she saw him buy pregnancy tests and she asked him what he was doing with those, because obviously you don’t need them, right?”

Mina glanced at Alfred. Her pregnancy was still a secret at work.

He sighed. ‟I think I am starting to understand what is going on but do go on please.”

Nancy stared directly at him. She was clearly enjoying this conversation. ‟He said he was buying those because he was having an affair.”

Mina gasped and facepalmed.

Alfred rubbed the bridge of his nose. ‟He said what?”

‟Your fiancé told Harriet he was having an affair.” She crossed her arms over her chest. ‟Honestly, I don’t know what he was doing buying those tests, but you might want to check with him if he is being faithful.”

Mina cleared her throat as Alfred was snorting. His boyfriend was such an idiot sometimes. ‟You need to keep this under wraps, but he was buying those for me. I’m 15 weeks pregnant as of now.”

Nancy was wide-eyed. ‟YOU ARE WHAT?”

‟Yeah, it was a bit of a surprise.” Mina laughed nervously as she saw Nancy seemed very crossed with her.

‟And you haven’t told me the news before that? I thought we were friends you know.” Her eyes were throwing daggers.  ‟Everyone is saying how miserable Alfred is, the poor little thing, since his  fiancé is sleeping left and right.”

‟Gosh what an idiot. The worst part is he is MY idiot. I guess he panicked and blurted the first thing that came to his mind.” Alfred shrugged and snorted. This was both unexpected and hilarious.

He could always trust Edward to get things as awkward as possible.

‟Yeah.” It was clear Nancy wasn’t pleased, she was avoiding Mina’s stare now.

Mina was red with shame and clearly was feeling bad about hiding the truth from her friend. Alfred patted her on the back and winked at Nancy.

‟I’ll ask Harriet to come over here before lunch and I’ll put everything to right.” He opened the door of their office as Nancy was getting up. ‟Edward is faithful, I have no doubt about it.”

‟Yeah.” Mina looked sideways and began to fidget with her bracelets. ‟He is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know about you, but I get the feeling there is going to be DRAMA soon!  
> In fact, I can tell you Alfred is going to cry three times in this fic (I KNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW)  
> Comments and kudos are LIFE!


	10. Secrets and Suspicion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred faces Harriet, Mina’s pregnancy is revealed and George makes yet again an idiot of himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This amazing moodboard was made by @oswinpxnd and I'm in love with it. Thank you so so much. You are way too talented Xxxx  
> There's not much Drumfred in this chapter, but I needed to get the plot going without them banging everywhere every time (sorry boys).  
> As always, English is not my first language, which means there might be some mistakes in there (Yikes!).

 

Finally, after a brief meeting with his friend and colleague Harriet, Alfred was now sure the gossiping behind his back was going to die out for good.

Harriet had claimed she had done all of this to prevent him from getting hurt, which made no sense to Mina, but seemed to be okay with Alfred.

He had assured his co-worker his boyfriend was faithful and that all those mysterious things about a secret pregnancy would be clarified in due time.

Mina had avoided Harriet’s stare during the whole conversation. She was fully aware she was a bit responsible for this situation, since she was hiding her pregnancy from everyone still, but Alfred had shrugged it off by saying his boyfriend was accountable for his own stupidity and did not need anyone’s help to get into trouble.

As soon as Harriet had left their office, Alfred had sat back down behind his desk and had sighed dramatically.

Something to which Mina hadn’t even shown any sign of reacting.

After all, it was a well-known fact her best friend was the worst drama queen EVER.

He sighed once more since it seemed his best friend was ignoring him—which she absolutely was—before he glanced at her. ‟You’ll see Mina, I’ll never gossip ever again.”

She seemed doubtful. ‟Riiiight.  We should really get back to work if we want to head out for lunch.” She flashed him a smile. ‟Truth be told, I would not mind killing you in exchange for a pickle sandwich.”

‟Mina, really? With all the pickles you are eating Baby Paget is going to be green at birth.”

She tried to look offended and threw her pen at him. He ducked and pulled his tongue out at her.

Fifteen minutes later, as they were about to leave for lunch—the pickle call being way too strong to resist it any longer—, Gabriella, one of the sixth-grade teachers, barged into their office.

‟Alfred, you need to hear this!”

Alfred smirked at Mina, who rolled her eyes and sat back down. Her best friend would never change.

‟You know I always have time for some fresh gossips Gaby.”

As the teacher closed the door behind her Mina snorted and pulled her phone out.

It seemed her sandwich would need to wait.

***

Bae at 12.42:

**Edward, you big idiot! Everyone was gossiping about me all because of you.**

Edward D. at 12.43:

**???**

Bae at 12.44:

**You didn’t tell me you had met Harriet when you bought Mina’s pregnancy tests.**

Edward. D. at 12.45:

**…**

**ALFRED, I’M NOT HAVING AN AFFAIR!!!**

**It was the first thing that popped into my mind.**

Bae at 12.45:

**I know you aren’t XD Next time tell me about it before others do, you ridiculous puppy.**

Edward D. at 12.47:

**Gosh I will, if you stop messing with my brain. I can’t think clearly when I’m with you.**

Bae at 12.48:

**Yeah, I tend to have this effect on people. Xxxx**

*******

Alf at 4.28:

**MINA!**

**We stopped by a shoe store because we are way too early for our dinner with Riley (damn bus). It really was a bummer at first and Gege kept whining like the big baby he is, but then I found the most perfect pair of shoes EVER!**

**I AM IN LOVE!**

**Okay, those may cost me both kidneys, but I’m only going to get married once, right?**

**What should I do?**

Mina at 4.29:

**I can see why you are in love with them. They are _so_ you! **

**I think you already are in way too deep not to get them! XD**

**Goodbye life savings, hello new shoes Xxx**

She was just sending her reply to Alfred when Septimus opened their back door.

He was just back from work.

Princess followed him inside. He closed the door behind her as she began to sniff around the room.

She could smell her aunt had bought cookies and she only needed to find where those were hidden.

Mina placed her phone down on the table and flashed her boyfriend a smile as he bent down to kiss her. ‟How was your day?”

He sighed and gave her a contrite smile as he sat down in front of her. ‟Very busy. I’ve just received a call for a case in Manchester. Which means I might miss your next medical appointment. Do you mind if Alfred goes with you instead of me?”

‟You know full well he would have come with us anyway. There’s nothing that can stop him when Baby Paget is concerned.”

They both chuckled.

‟I think he’s going to be the perfect godfather. How convenient that he lives downstairs too, right? Every time we’ll want to go out on a date, I am sure he’ll be thrilled to babysit.” He looked at his watch and yawned.  ‟Is Drums eating with us tonight?”

‟No, he’s staying at work. He says he’ll probably be back very late once more.”

Septimus frowned and glanced at Princess who had not located the cookies and  was now curled up on herself on a little cushion his mother Charlotte had sewed for her. ‟He’s really working a lot lately.  Are they that low on money?”

‟Alfred spends everything in clothes while Edward keeps buying more and more books. You know how they are.” She shrugged. ‟ Something funny happened at work.”

‟What?” he smirked.  ‟A kid got stuck in the toilet seat once more? One threw up on Mr. Peel? Ernst Coburg caught another STD?”

She shook her head and began to tell him what had happened with Harriet earlier today.

Septimus frowned and scratched his stubble as he listened to her. He seemed pensive but did not interrupt her.

‟-but, there’s something else. When we went to buy my maternity clothes the other day, the girl working there was named Florence and I think she was Edward’s ex.”

‟Does Alfred knows? Even though I am not sure he would see this as a problem. You know fully well he would probably befriend her in a minute.”

She cleared her throat and avoided his stare. ‟Well the thing is she said her ex had been cheating on her while they were still in a relationship.”

Septimus seemed a bit concerned by what he was hearing now.

He did not know Edward very well so far, but the latter seemed like a very nice bloke. ‟And now you are adding those two stories to the fact he has been absent a lot at night lately?”

She began to fidget with her bracelets. ‟Do you think I am being paranoid?”

‟I don’t think there is anything to worry about, but if it can make you feel better, I’ll investigate the matter.” He gave her a kiss on the palm of her left hand as he got up to prepare dinner. ‟Let’s keep this to ourselves just in case though. Now is not the time to create drama, right?”

***

Alfred sighed as he sat down at the Café. George did the same and sat in front of him. He was impatient to see Riley and kept brushing his hands through his hair, messing them up in a ridiculous way.

If Riley did not show up soon, he would probably be bald before the clock struck five.

Alfred was peacefully scrolling through his phone when Alexander sat down next to him. Riley rolled her eyes, sighed loudly and sat next to George, since it was the only place left at the table.

The thirty-year-old bombshell looked amazing in her workout clothes— high waist thigh-high sock leggings and a fitted shirt—and Alfred had to admit he was beginning to understand why his brother seemed so besotted.

He pointedly gave his older brother a look, since the latter was just staring and smiling dumbly at Riley once again.

Alfred sighed. He had made sure his brother looked his best this evening and he had forced him to buy new clothes, something that had not been a luxury.

George still was an idiot, but at least he was a well-dressed one now.

‟Hey Riley, so glad to see you!” Alfred smiled as the red head greeted him.

She then looked at George, but the latter was still stunned. Alfred kicked him under the table as Alexander stretched, yawned and unsubtly placed his arm on the back of his chair.

He stared blankly at Alexander. The latter flashed him a smile. ‟You look good Alfred. So glad to see you.”

‟Just so you know, I am engaged.”

Alexander blinked twice. ‟I know.”

He cleared his throat. ‟Right.” He pushed his chair farther from Alexander who seemed to take the hint and moved his arm back to his side.

George seemed to have snapped out of his daydreaming and was trying to converse with Riley, who had just pulled her phone out and was unashamedly ignoring him.

A very young server walked up to their table, which temporarily saved Riley from George’s indecent stare.

Alfred quickly ordered a salad, because he was still pretty pissed by Jr’s comment about the fact he seemed to be fatter and Alexander ordered a fancy soup with a salad on the side. He clearly was sending the vibe he was all for eating healthy and was probably trying to make a good impression on him.

George winked at the server. ‟I’m going to get a burger with extra meat. Are you going to take the same thing Riley, my dear?”

She rolled her eyes. ‟I’m vegan.”

George laughed weirdly and scratched the back of his head. ‟Yeah me too.” Alfred sighed. ‟Forget about my first order, it was only a joke. A vegan joke. Because I am vegan.  I’ll get the cheese-”

Alfred kicked him under the table once more. At this rate, his big brother would be bald and would get bruises on both legs before 5.00.

‟I’m still joking. Why don’t you go first Riley? After all, my mama always says it should always be the ladies who go first.”

Alfred flashed him an encouraging smile as Alexander pulled his phone out and began to scroll through his messages.

Riley finally ordered a tofurkey sandwich and George saved his sorry ass by ordering the same thing.

While they were waiting for their order, Alfred pleasantly chatted with Riley, as he blatantly spoke of how his wedding preparation was going just to discourage Alexander a little more from flirting with him. It seemed to work as the latter seemed less and less interested by their conversation and more and more focussed on his phone.

Their order arrived quickly, and their conversation died out a bit since everyone seemed hungry.  

Alfred was still busy picking the olives out of his salad when he observed George had already gulped down more than half of his sandwich in one go.

He quirked an eyebrow at his big brother and stared at him meaningfully.

George seemed to understand the message. He slowed his eating down and focussed more on the conversation just as Alexander cooed loudly over one of the pictures on his phone.

Riley smiled at him. ‟Is it a picture of your niece?”

The Russian smiled and nodded. ‟Little Anya is 3 weeks old.”

George rolled his eyes. ‟Alfred loves babies too.”

Alexander seemed very pleased by this information and handed his phone over to Alfred who felt his heart melt at the sight of the newborn.

‟OMG. She’s so precious. My best friend is pregnant too.” He handed the phone back to Alexander who smiled at him with even more interest (if that was even possible).

‟She is the cutest Alfred. You should come with us to visit her one day. My friend Cami-” began Riley as George cut her off.

‟Oh yes, the girl who lives two houses from you and with whom you went to college? That Camille?”

Riley frowned at him. ‟How do you know that?”

There was a very awkward silence.

Alexander slurped his drink loudly and stared at George as Alfred facepalmed.

He knew fully well George had spent about 2 hours stalking Riley’s Facebook page even though he had explicitly told him not to because this was both unhealthy and creepy as heck.

Riley moved her chair to be as far as possible from George as the latter began to laugh nervously.

Alfred sighed and gestured to the server they needed their bill NOW.

Why was he doing this again?

***

George had been pretty bummed out by the dinner date—if it could be called that— and the Zumba class.

He had as much grace as a bulldozer and had struggled during the whole class. Zumba clearly wasn’t his thing.

Riley had snorted at him the whole evening and Alfred had dismissed everyone earlier than usual to try to save what was left of his brother’s dignity.

This week’s defence class hadn’t been better either. At least, Alexander had seemed to understand Alfred wasn’t interested in dating him, which was a good thing. He had asked if they could be pal though, which was something Alfred had agreed on.

The two had exchanged texts all through the week while George had moped around and wailed on either his couch or on Septimus’s.

On Saturday afternoon, his parents had showed up with Richard and William in tow.

As soon as they had arrived, Richard had sat down on the couch with his headphones on while William had disappeared outside to check the foundations of George’s house, stating some weird bugs could have been uncovered during the excavating process.

Their dad seemed impressed by how the work was going, while his mother had visited both the upstairs and the downstairs portions of the house. She had even compared Mina and Septimus’s spotless flat with Alfred and Edward’s messy one. She forced the latter to do the dishes while Alfred had to get a move on with the laundry that was piled up everywhere.

The whole family had then sat down for dinner.

Mina was wearing a very large vintage dress to hide her growing baby bump. She was a bit flushed and was sweating buckets. Septimus, worried, had asked her to sit down and to rest for a while as he had finished placing the cutlery on the table.

Charlotte, ever the good mother, picked up on this and stared at the little blonde with concern. ‟Mina my sweet girl, you look pale. Are you alright?”

She nodded as Alfred winked at her. Her pregnancy would be revealed right before dessert and they were both extremely excited to do so.

George was sighing dramatically in the corner of the room.

His nose was now almost all healed up and the big blue bruises around it had begun to effectively disappear. Charlotte looked at her oldest with concern as her husband sat down in front of her.

‟George, I hope you are not bothering your brothers too much.” Began Henry as Edward, just back from getting the food because so many Pagets in the same room was extremely overwhelming, was about to sit down next to Alfred, who grabbed his shirt and gave him a very tender kiss in the process. Richard rolled his eyes and kept on sipping his soda.

George was feeling so down he forgot to comment or to act as though he was gagging, which was very unusual and worried Charlotte even more.

Septimus began to pass the food around as Charlotte got up and began to serve her boys even though her youngest was 26 years old.

She was just sitting down and while everyone was eating—except George who was pushing his food around and Richard who was too busy with his phone—, she seemed to remember something.

‟Alfred, my sweet little baby, I brought you tons of magazines. The gossips are a bit outdated, but you should check the monthly articles on sex positions. You might find some interesting new ones. Most are for straight couples, but I know how creative you are.” Edward choked as Mina snorted.

She had always been a big fan of the Pagets trashy dinner talks. Until now.

‟Hand them to your brother when you are done, will you?”

Alfred flashed his mom a big smile as Mina blushed. She was now discovering it wasn’t that pleasant when your personal life was displayed at the Paget’s table.

She poked Septimus in the ribs to prevent him from commenting about anything.

He shrugged as she blushed furthermore. ‟I’m sorry, but my girlfriend doesn’t want me to talk openly about our personal life.”

‟Boo Mina!” Alfred winked at her as Richard was now typing furiously on his phone.

The conversation then turned around everyone’s work and about George’s house.

It seemed Jr was on a business trip to Gloucester, while Clarence was to remain in Italy for a couple of weeks but would be back on time for the wedding.

Soon, the plates were empty, and it was now the perfect time to reveal Mina’s pregnancy. Her hands were sweaty and she was sure she was going to snap one of her bracelet if she waited any longer.

‟Alf, can you help me with the dessert please?” She gave a meaningful look to Alfred, who was already looking at the magazines his mother had brought him.

‟Hum…” he distractedly replied as he glanced at a page his mom had folded out for him. It really was a good thing he had done gymnastics when he was younger.

She cleared her throat. ‟ALFRED, KITCHEN NOW.”

He quickly closed his magazine as he snapped out of his fantasizing and put it back on the table. ‟Oh yes, kitchen now.”

As they were leaving for the kitchen, they heard Henry ask Edward about how his mom was reacting to the wedding but missed his answer.

Mina quickly changed into a very fitted dress in the restroom as Alfred grabbed the cake they had baked together during the afternoon.

They had done a very bad job with the icing, but it was somewhat possible to read: _Baby Paget due March 24 th _on top of the cake.

Septimus smiled as he saw his brother and his girlfriend leave the kitchen a couple of minutes later.

George gave them a thumb up and snorted. ‟Mama, look at the ridiculous cake Alfred and Mina have baked this afternoon.”

‟Stop degrading their work will you George, but- " Charlotte paused as she read what was written on the icing.

Henry frowned and stared at Mina’s round belly with a stunned expression on his face.

His wife had been through seven pregnancies and he could recognise a pregnancy bump when he was seeing one. He felt overwhelmed and gapped as Edward refilled his glass.

William read the icing too and cheered. ‟ I knew all the signs pointed to it last August, but I kept my mouth shut anyway! Congratulations!”

Charlotte bursted into happy tears as Richard handed her a tissue and pulled his phone out to snap a picture of the ugly cake.

Charlotte blew her nose loudly as Henry kissed her head and Septimus leaned against her for a hug. ‟My baby is getting married in less than two months, my George decided to move out of the house and now my first grandkid is on the way. I couldn’t be any prouder.”

Mina was smiling from ear to ear as Alfred pulled her close and kissed her cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, Septimus discovers some weird things and Alfred is going to cry for the first time (DUM DUM DUUUUUUM).  
> Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this fic and to comment or to leave kudos.


	11. A cursed wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred thinks his wedding will be cursed (#drama).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You probably have already heard about the saying “Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue”?  
> Well, I’m going for ALL the wedding clichés, so I had to include it here. :D  
> I’m warning you, this story might end up being EXTRA sappy…  
> Ps: For those who don’t know it yet, Richard Paget works for the MI6. That’s why he has access to tons of information on everyone.

‟Careful Henry, my dear. You don’t want to throw out your back like you did last time,” exclaimed Charlotte Paget as she snapped yet again a cute picture of her and Princess with her phone.

It was the morning after Mina had revealed her pregnancy and everyone was feeling joyful.

 Edward was sitting on the couch and completing a Sudoku while Mina was calmly reading one of her books. Her left hand was resting on her small baby bump. She was humming a song as she was distractedly looking at the five Paget brothers and Henry who were all busy playing _Just dance_ on William’s gaming system.

The game was quickly turning into a hot mess as it was often the case when many Pagets were involved.

They were split into two teams: Alfred and George were in the first one, while Henry and Richard were in the second one. William and Septimus, on their part, were cheering them on. The latter was laughing so much his ribs were beginning to hurt.

After three dances, Henry was already out of breath and sweating so much, his shirt was drenched. He wiped his forehead with his sleeve—which was already wet anyway— and handed his controller to William before he walked to the kitchen to fetch himself a big glass of water.

Richard, who wasn’t a big fan of this game and of losing in general, stared angrily at his youngest brother and groaned. ‟Why do you always have to shake your butt all the time?”

Alfred shrugged and stuck his tongue out at him. ‟I’m not shaking my butt, I’m keeping the rhythm.”

George who seemed to feel better today squinted at the screen and tried to copy the dance moves that were shown in the game. ‟Keep doing it Plumpy, because we are WINNING!”

‟I’m sure you are just doing it to annoy me and to look good in front of your boyfriend, “Richard sighed as William’s glasses fell on the floor, making them loose more points since the latter was practically blind without them.

Said boyfriend cleared his throat and wrote down a couple of random answers in his Sudoku, just to prove Richard wrong.

He wasn’t just staring at Alfred; he was ogling him. That was a completely different thing.

Septimus handed William his glasses back just as a new song was starting to play. This time the beat was even quicker, and it was even harder to follow what was shown on the screen.

George was squinting as he began to move his arms up and down in sync with the music.

Richard groaned once more and pushed Alfred roughly. ‟STOP IT, YOU ARE DISTRACTING ME.”

Alfred shrugged. ‟I know I am a pretty thing, but you should stop staring at me and look more closely at the screen if you ever want to win.”

‟William, you are supposed to turn on the right,” Septimus exclaimed in between laughter.

William shrugged and continued to turn on the wrong side.

Alfred ended up closer to Richard and accidentally—or purposely?— stomped on his feet. The latter was so angry at this point, he was literally fuming. ‟Mama! Alfred is cheating again!”

Charlotte, used to her sons calling her for no valid reasons, ignored her son and snapped another selfie with Princess just as her husband, back from his trip to the kitchen, was sitting down next to her.

He drank a large gulp of water and looked with amusement at Edward’s puzzle.

Alfred looked scandalized. ‟I’M NOT!”

Septimus began to laugh again as more drama was unravelling in front of him.

Richard stared darkly at Alfred. ‟If you stomp on my feet again, I swear I am going to hit you.”

‟If you try to hit me, I’ll grab you and I will lick the side of your face.” Alfred stuck his tongue out at him once more.

He wasn’t bluffing.

At this point, Septimus was laughing so much, he was crying big fat tears.

Richard narrowed his eyes. ‟You wouldn’t.”

‟I would listen to his threat if I were you Rick. Alf definitively licks nastier things on a regular basis. While being ugly, your face is still better than other things like-” George stopped talking at once, since as he was bending down, his pajama pants ripped at the seam.

Septimus was now sure of it, he was going to die of laughter.

George cursed profusely and threw his controller across the room while Edward and Mina were both snorting out loud.

William turned yet again on the wrong side and bumped into Richard who pushed him, making him fall on the ground next to Septimus. The latter pushed Richard back, making him bump into Alfred, who fell on George who nearly knocked into the coffee table.

Princess jumped down from the couch as Charlotte, hands on her hips got up and stared darkly at her boys.  ‟I swear I will all send you to time out if you don’t stop misbehaving this instant.”

All the brothers calmed down at once. Charlotte’s threats were still very effective.

***

Alfred winked at his oldest brother. ‟Close the door behind you Gege will you?.”

George did as he was told as Henry and Mina were sitting down on Alfred’s bed.

Richard, curious to know what was going on behind the closed door, followed them inside. He pulled his phone out and began to scroll on it as Charlotte sighed with desperation and began to pick up some of the clothes that were laying everywhere on the floor.

‟Prepare yourself to be blown away!” Alfred waggled his eyebrows as he pulled out a hanging bag from the back of his massive closet. He really had a thing for clothes. ‟ _Mama_ , stop cleaning. This is more important.”

Charlotte picked two last pieces of clothing up and threw them on a pile close to the door. She then crossed her arms and sat down next to George.

Alfred cleared his throat and turned around to face everyone as he unzipped the bag. ‟First, behold the gorgeous suit I bought the other day.” He pulled a light grey suit from out of the bag. ‟Of course, this beauty is a super skinny fit.”

‟Obviously,” chimed in Mina as George rolled his eyes.

‟With it, I am going to wear a light blue shirt with—” Alfred pulled another item of clothing out of the bag. ‟This cute little grey vest underneath it.”

Henry made an appreciative sound and nodded as Alfred placed his suit, his vest and his shirt on his bed.

He then went back to the closet, threw a couple of pairs of shoes out —George sighed once more because who on Earth needed so many shoes, really? —and showed the new shoes he had bought last Wednesday with him to his parents.

Charlotte gasped. ‟You are going to look amazing baby.”

‟Wait Mama, you haven’t seen the best thing yet!” Alfred was grinning from ear to ear as he pulled out a little box from underneath his bed.

George frowned. ‟Isn’t this the box Clarence sent you?”

Alfred quirked an eyebrow at his older brother. ‟It is.”

‟This is going to be good!” George sat closer to the edge of the bed as Alfred opened the little box.

Surely, this little box was holding something special and mysterious, since his baby brother had not wanted to open it in front of him when he had delivered said box almost three weeks ago.

Alfred delicately opened it and pulled out…

A tie.

An ugly blue tie with a floral pattern.

George rolled his eyes and groaned so loudly his mother slapped him on the arm. ‟What?!? That’s it? It’s just a tie? I must admit I am a bit disappointed. Here I thought it might be something kinky.  Why all the fuss about not wanting Drums to see this the other day then?”

Alfred sighed loudly out of exasperation.

Mina glanced at George. ‟Haven’t you heard it’s supposed to be bad luck if the groom sees the bride’s dress? Well Alf is convinced there is some truth behind this. That’s why he is showing us his wedding clothes in here with the door shut and everything.”

George snorted. ‟So, Alf is the bride then?”

Alfred cursed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. George really knew how to push his buttons.

Henry stared darkly at his oldest son. ‟ I strongly suggest you leave this room young man or else, I’ll force you to apologize in front of the whole family next time we head out together in a public place.”

George groaned loudly as he got up from the bed. Mina couldn’t repress her laughter as he left the room looking like a furious toddler.  

Richard flashed his little brother one of his rare smiles. ‟You really are going to look sharp Alf. I’m certain Drums is going to cry when he’ll see you at the altar.”

Alfred snorted and sat down next to Mina. ‟If he doesn’t, I sure will!”

Charlotte studied the tie and the shoes more closely. ‟So, you have your something blue and your something new. What will be your something borrowed and your something old?”

He scratched his nose. ‟My something old is going to be the cufflinks you gave me when I turned 18. The ones who belonged to your grandfather, Mama.”

Charlotte smiled. ‟You are going to look incredible baby.” She kissed his cheek. ‟ Do you know if Edward has already bought his clothes too?”

Mina shook her head. ‟I know he didn’t.”

Henry scratched his chin. ‟ For your something borrowed, I’ll lend you my wristwatch. You know, the fancy silver one? It’ll look good on your pictures and it might come in handy for you to check the time during the day, since you probably won’t be able to fit your cellphone in the pocket of those skinny pants of yours.”

Alfred snorted as Charlotte left for the restroom.

Richard opened the door for Mina, who got back to the living room. He waited for his father to do the same, but Henry turned to face Alfred instead and began to toy with his hair. He seemed nervous. ‟I wanted to ask you something Alfred, son. I’d understand it if you don’t say yes.” He paused and coughed twice. ‟ I know you are not a girl and everything, but I’d  still like it if I could walk you down the aisle on your wedding day. If that’s okaywith you, you know?” His voice was a bit shaky in the end and Alfred was definitively crying at this point.

‟Papa!”

Richard looked left and right and exited the room. He was feeling slightly overwhelmed.

Emotions weren’t his strong point and it was kind of weird to see his dad on the verge of crying.

Edward walked into the room just as Henry was hugging his son. ‟George said you needed me—Alfred are you alright?”

Alfred jumped in surprise and quickly wiped his tears as he realised his precious wedding clothes were still on display on the bed. ‟ EDWARD, DON’T LOOK AT MY CLOTHES!”

‟Now, what is going on here?” Charlotte with her hands on her hips had just left the restroom as Henry was quickly pushing a bewildered Edward out of the room.

Her youngest, in full panic mode, was already pacing around the room. ‟THAT’S IT, I’M SURE SOMETHING BAD IS GOING TO HAPPEN. MY WEDDING IS CURSED”

‟Calm down baby. It’s just a superstition.” Charlotte sat down on the bed as she tried to soothe her son.

He clearly had inherited his drama queen side from her husband’s side of the family.

***

Working as an accountant for Charles Francatelli’s bakery wasn’t the most thrilling work Edward had done in his life.

It wasn’t the most challenging either.

In fact, it was truly boring.

The most thrilling thing that had occurred in the last three months had been when a complete batch of cakes had burnt down while Francatelli was on his honeymoon. The fire alarm had gone off, which had forced everyone to leave the building and to wait outside for a good twenty minutes.

The only good point about his new job was that he was sharing an office with Charles himself. The latter wasn’t very talkative, and that suited him perfectly.

Charles was busy searching for a cake idea for a little boy’s birthday party on his computer when Edward’s phone buzzed. He stared at it with curiosity and wondered if his mom was finally returning his call. He had left her a voicemail two day prior and still hadn’t received any news as of yet.

Jr Paget at 2.53:

**Hey Drums, here’s a list of what you still need to plan or to buy for the wedding:**

**-A CAKE**

**-CLOTHES (I bet Alf already has his)**

**\- DECORATIONS**

**-AND GUESS WHAT WE ALMOST FORGOT: YOUR RINGS!** **££££**

**I’m going to send an updated version of the costs so far to Alf.**

He cursed under his breath.

It was a good thing Jr oversaw their wedding planning because every time he thought they were done with something, Jr pointed out something they had completely forgotten about.

It would have been just like them to forget about getting rings for their actual wedding ceremony.

He texted him a quick reply and saw Charlotte Paget had texted him too. She was wondering if he had already bought his suit, which he hadn’t since he was now used to having Alfred help him pick out his clothes now.

He sighed and was about to text her back when Francatelli slammed his phone down on his desk.

‟Drummond, you are a lucky bloke.  All Nancy keeps talking/texting/yelling about since Wilhelmina has revealed her pregnancy at school is babies, babies and babies.” He rubbed his forehead. ‟I don’t even know what to reply to her anymore.”

‟If that can make you feel any better, Alfred has the same discourse back at home.” Edward smirked. ‟In fact, he was already very keen on the idea earlier this year.”

‟Well, it’s slightly more complicated to get one in your case. You can easily buy time, but I have no valid reason to postpone it any further. I’m telling you, don’t get married.” Charles winked at him. “Don’t tell my wife I’ve just said that because she is going to throw my stuff out of our house and by the window in a flash. You know how she is.”

He nodded as he remembered how Nancy had been earlier this year when Alfred had thrown him out of their flat when they had temporarily broke up.

She was a force not to mess with.

‟Speaking of getting married. I was wondering if you could find some time in your busy schedule to do my wedding cake when the time comes?”

Charles smirked. ‟I was wondering when you were going to ask me about it. I would have been very affronted if you had ordered it elsewhere.” Like the professional that he was, Charles picked up a pencil and a piece of paper on his desk to note down the details of Edward’s order. ‟What kind of cake do you want?”

Edward frowned and scratched the back of his head. ‟That’s a good question.”

‟What flavour do you want?”

‟Isn’t there a special one just for wedding cakes?”

Charles smirked. ‟Do you want the decorations done with pipping or with fondant?”

Edward shrugged.

‟How many tiers do you want?”

‟Tiers?”

‟Right, I’ll call Paget and see what he wants. Knowing him, he probably has pictures saved on his phone already. ” Charles put his pen back where it belonged and flashed Edward a smile. ‟Of course, I’ll do the cake for free because I’ve made you work mad hours for the last three weeks.”

Edward stared at him with surprise and gratitude. Wedding cakes were very expensive.

‟I’ll even give you some pastries at the end of your shift if you can help me with my wife. How did you manage to calm the baby fever down at your place?”

***

Alexander D. at 10.12:

**Loved your class once more.**

**We were wondering, Riley and I, if you would like to go shopping with us next Sunday?**

**I want to get something for my niece. You could maybe pick something out for your friend?**

Alfred P. at 10.20:

**George says he wants to go, so we are going to be there!**

***

It was a short walk to _Forno di Francatelli._

Tonight, Alfred was out with George at Riley’s class and Edward was still missing.

Septimus had decided it was one time too many and had told Mina he was heading out for a walk with Princess.

In reality, he was out to check on Edward’s whereabouts.

Upon his arrival at the bakery, he saw at once the place was closed for the night.

He took the backstreet to check directly into Charles’ office and surely enough, there were no signs of Edward working or sleeping in there.

This was extremely mysterious, and he was beginning to believe his girlfriend might have a good reason to panic.

Where was Edward Drummond and what was he doing at this hour?

As Septimus turned around to head back home, an idea crossed his mind.

He pulled his phone out just as Princess was sniffing at a fire hydrant.

Sept at 22.50:

**Hey Rick, can you do me a solid?**

**Do you remember who Emma Portman is?**

Ricky P. at 22.51:

**Isn’t she the one who went to prom with Clarence?**

Sept at 22.52:

**Exactly! Can you do a background check on one of her employees? The girl’s name is Florence but I don’t know her family name. I’ll check with Mina and text it back to you.**

Ricky P. at 22.53:

**Is it for your work?**

Sept at 22.54:

**No, for Alfred’s sake.**

Ricky P. at 22.54:

**I’ll grab a Soda and I’ll be on it. I’ll keep you posted.**

*******

It was close to midnight and Alfred was curled up in his bed with a book. His phone was on his nightstand and he kept looking at it, since Edward still wasn’t back from work and hadn’t notified him yet which was a bit strange.

He had finally reached an interesting part in his book _À la recherche du temps perdu_ , when he heard a strange noise coming from outside of his window.

His curtain was closed but he stared at it anyway.

His brain was probably playing tricks on him, since Princess did not seem to have heard anything. She was still peacefully resting on the foot of his bed.

He had just resumed his reading when he heard the noise once more.

This time Princess glanced at the window too and growled.

He grabbed his book—he could maybe use it as a weapon?— and slowly walked up to the window.

He took a deep breath and pulled the curtain back.

_Just in time to see that there really was someone at his window!_

Princess, scared senseless, turned around and hid under the bed just as her papa, terrified, let out a loud scream.

Alfred was just about to run for his life and to go and get George when the mysterious thief flashed him a smile.

He rolled his eyes as he opened the window and his ridiculous boyfriend clambered inside the room and fell on the floor with a loud thud.

Alfred sighed and crossed his arms. ‟Blimey, I thought it was a thief or a monster who was trying to sneak into my room to kill me in my sleep.”

Edward snorted and Princess emerged from underneath the bed as she slowly recognized her daddy.

‟I am a thief. I am the thief who stole your heart.” Alfred rolled his eyes as Edward pulled him close and kissed him on the lips.

Alfred pulled back and rubbed his nose against his. ‟You big sap.”

Princess barked and wagged her tail as she jumped back on the bed.

‟I’m sorry if I have scared you. My phone is dead, and I forgot my keys in my jeans.” He pulled his boyfriend closer.

Alfred smirked. ‟Obviously, the best way to get back inside the house was by sneaking in by our bedroom window. Why didn’t you knock at the door?”

Edward shrugged before he cradled his boyfriend’s face with his hand and they kissed once more. Alfred’s hand was tangled in his curls and he hummed into the kiss, which made Edward’s heart sing.

There was a loud bang as George, squinting and wearing nothing but a very worn out pair of underwear, pushed the door open.

‟Hey Alfred, are you alright? I heard Princess bark and- Seriously? Is this one of your role-playing games once more?” George rolled his eyes. ‟Gosh I can’t wait for my house to be built. Septimus is no fun since he found himself a woman and you two are always all over each other screaming and banging and what not. I’m heading back to my room. You better both shut up; I need my beauty sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, I told you Alfred would cry in this chapter Xxx  
> Next time, some shopping gets done.
> 
> Comments and kudos are LIFE!!!


	12. Does Alfred know about this?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward goes ring shopping and Alfred goes out with Riley, Alexander and George.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if there are any mistakes Xxxx :S

Rick P. at 10.45:

**Here’s what I found about Florence Kerr. She’s 31. She’s from Scotland. She majored in Politics. She’s working part time at Emma’s shop. She’s been working there for the last 4 years. Oh, she’s also completing her doctoral degree in Economics.**

**The only shocking thing I found out about her is that she’s not a real blonde.**

Sept at 10.47:

**Thanks! I might need your help for something else. I’ll keep you posted.**

*******

‟-and then, we clearly saw Baby Paget grab his umbilical cord on the screen. Every time he was squeezing it, his heartbeat was slowing down. Septimus was blinking back tears the whole time and I kept gasping out loud! I never saw anything as mind-blowing as this in my entire life!” Alfred finally paused his monologue and remembered to take a bite of his meal as his boyfriend looked at him with amusement.

The two were out on a date and were enjoying a quiet little dinner together while George was alone at their flat and probably trying to cook himself something for once.

Alfred had been with Mina and his brother to her ultrasound earlier this afternoon and he was still very enthusiastic about the whole experience.  

‟So, is Baby Paget a boy or a girl?” Edward grinned. He had finished his meal a good while ago and was now sipping on his wine as he stared at his boyfriend.

Alfred winked at him. ‟I’m the only one who knows the answer to this question. My answer is: you’ll learn about it at the gender reveal like everyone else.”

Edward quirked an eyebrow at him as he draped his arm over Alfred’s shoulder and pulled him closer. ‟Are you really going to keep this a secret from me? That would be a first.”

‟It’s not because we are sleeping together or because you are going to be my husband in about a month from now that it’s going to give you some kind of privileges you know.”

They kissed before Alfred continued to eat.

Edward stared at him with amusement. ‟I’ve spoken to your mother this morning and she sent me the cutest pictures of you.” He smirked. ‟In fact, I could use them as blackmail material, but since I am a good boyfriend, I’ll just keep them to myself.”

 Alfred frowned as he pulled back from Edward’s embrace. ‟Which pictures did she send you?”

‟A picture of you with your football team, one from your early cheerleading days and a cute picture of you from one of your dance shows.”

Alfred scratched his nose. ‟Which one?” He tried to grab his boyfriend’s phone since it was on the table, but Edward grabbed it first and pulled him closer instead.

Alfred rested his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder as the server walked over to their table to pick their plates up.

‟You are dressed up as a crab—or at least as something red with pincers. I think I’m going to use it as my background on my lock screen.”

Alfred snorted. ‟Oh yes, we danced on _Under the sea_ from _The Little Mermaid_ and I was Sebastian. That picture is one of my mama’s favorite along with the one of Clarence, George and Richard dressed as the Very Hungry Caterpillar for Halloween.” He smirked. “You can blackmail me all you want Edward Drummond. It won’t get you anywhere with me.”

Edward rolled his eyes. ‟Spoilsport.”

They kissed some more while they were waiting for Alfred’s dessert—which obviously was a chocolate flavored pastry.

The two were just enjoying the rest of their dinner in silence when Alfred seemed to remember something.

He flashed his fiancé a lovely smile. The kind of smile that made Edward go weak in the knees and made his breath catch in his throat. ‟George is going to throw you a surprise bachelor party.”

‟Does he really need to?” Edward sighed so loudly out of desperation a woman sitting two tables across from them turned around and stared at him with curiosity.

‟Well you are welcomed to my Gaylorette, but since we are going to dance the night away and might even do some karaoke while we are at it, I thought you might not want to join us.”

Edward almost choked on his drink as Alfred gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

That kind of party was definitively out of his comfort zone.

‟How about you go out and party while I read my book and watch politics on tv?”

Alfred grinned. ‟And you say I’m the spoilsport?”

***

Edward D. at 10.37:

**Thank you so much Charlotte for helping me out with finding the perfect wedding suit the other night. I really appreciate it!**

Charlotte P. at 10.40:

**You are going to look amazing.**

**Two gorgeous grooms! I can't wait to put tons of pictures of you two on my wall!**

**If there is anything else you want me to do in order to help you, feel free to ask. Henry and I are thrilled to be gaining another son Xxx**

Edward D. at 10.42:

**And I am thrilled to be joining your BIG and wonderful family.**

**I’ve finally spoken to my mom. I’m going to visit her next week.**

**Please don’t tell Alfred about it. I really don’t want him to be worried.**

Charlotte P. at 10.47:

**I won't but you’ll need to tell him about your whereabouts at some point.**

**Hiding the fact you have been shopping with me is one thing.**

**Hiding the fact you are taking secret dance classes to surprise him on your big day is more than acceptable too.**

**Hiding what is going on with your mother is another one.**

**Don’t forget that the key to a healthy relationship is to maintain a good communication between both partners.**

***

Alexander looked at Alfred with puzzlement. ‟So, you are the only one who knows the gender of your best friend’s baby?”

The blond had a smug look on his face. ‟Precisely.”

‟That’s nice. What are you going to get for her baby then?”

Alfred shrugged. ‟I’ve never shopped for a baby before. What do you think I should buy?”

Alfred and George were out once more with Alexander and Riley and the three of them where helping Alfred out with buying things for Mina’s gender reveal.  

He was supposed to host it over the next weekend.

Alfred was enjoying more and more the time he was spending with Alexander since the latter seemed to have understood there was not even a slight chance they would ever be dating.

The two were looking at baby clothes and were talking animatedly together while George was following Riley around the store.

She still seemed very annoyed by him and was avoiding his gaze while he was trying to find interesting conversation starters to interact with her—something that was proving to be a real challenge.

She stopped to look at some newborn dresses as George, awkwardly standing next to her, cleared his throat. ‟So, do you like babies too?”

She ignored her question and checked another piece of clothing.

He scratched the back of his head. This time, his hair was well combed, and he was neatly dressed.

He clearly was trying to do all that he could in order to seduce her." It’s funny my brother Alfred is the one that wants children the most out of the seven of us when he’s the only one who won’t be able to have some easily.” He shrugged as she sighed. ‟How many kids do you want?”

There was an awkward silence before she strangely glanced at him. ‟I can’t have children.”

He mumbled an apology as she turned around and quickly walked out of the store.

He glanced at Alfred, who was freaking out over tiny little shoes and who seemed to be having a great time with Alexander. He decided to go after her.

He clearly had messed up BIG TIME.

When he found her back, she was sitting on a bench located in the store’s entrance and was furiously scrolling on her phone.

She sighed as he sat down next to her.

‟I’m sorry. I hope you can forgive me for being a nosy person.” He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head. ‟ I brought you something.”

He pulled a small plastic bag out of Alfred’s ridiculously large purse—man bag—he was carrying over his shoulder.

She quirked an eyebrow at him.

‟It’s cookies. I wanted to give them to you earlier, but I guess now is the proper time to do so. I made them myself. “He cleared his throat once more. ‟I’m not an excellent cook, but I tried just for you.”

‟Hum…Thanks. I guess…” Riley picked the bag he was handing her and avoided his stare. ‟Look George, I have nothing against you, but I don’t think this is going to work between us.”  She cleared her throat, got up and yelled in her friend’s direction. ‟Alex, I think it’s time we headed back home.”

Alexander looked at Alfred and both men shrugged as they walked over to the cash register to pay for what they had found.

Alexander was buying a cute little ruffle dress for his niece while Alfred was getting a cute little dress, a rainbow romper and a jean overall with a matching cap.

As soon as the two were out of the store, Riley grabbed her friend by the arm and bid them farewell as Alfred glanced curiously at his older brother.

‟What have you done this time?” Alfred seemed concerned. ‟You know, Riley might not be the one for you after all. You should maybe consider moving on?”

‟Are you out of your mind Plumpy? She called me by my name for the first time since I’ve met her. I’m definitively making some progress here.” He clapped his little brother on the back. ‟I’m sure she’s going to ask me out on a date soon.”

***

On Wednesday evening, Edward had yet again mysteriously disappeared.

Septimus, now wondering more than ever what was going on with his future brother-in-law, went to check on him at the bakery once more.

Princess had stayed back at home with his girlfriend (the two were probably cozily curled up in front of the tv and watching a rom-com since the weather was now slowly turning colder as autumn was creeping by) and he reached the bakery in a record time.

As he walked up to it’s entrance, Charles Francatelli was just closing the door behind him.

He waved at the other man who looked up at him with curiosity and flashed him a smile.

‟Hey, Francatelli! Long time no see! I’ve heard you are doing mad hours lately. The bakery is doing well?”

‟For a moment there I’ve almost mistaken you for Alfred, Septimus!” They both chuckled as they shook hands. ‟Oh no, I stayed late on purpose tonight. I’m preparing a surprise for my wife.”Charles shrugged. ‟It’s been a good two weeks now since we are back to our normal working hours. How’s your girlfriend’s pregnancy going so far?”

‟Great. Mina is already almost halfway through it. I’ve missed the hardest part while I was in Brazil.  Time is flying by too fast.” He smiled and then frowned at the other man. ‟ Do you know where Drums is?”

Charles scratched his beard. ‟He left earlier today because he said he had an engagement tonight. He’s probably out with your brother.” He checked his phone. ‟Got to go man the wife is waiting. It was nice seeing you.”

Septimus nodded at him as Charles got to his car.

He knew fully well Edward wasn’t with his brother.

Where was he and more importantly, what was he hiding?

***

‟Weren’t we supposed to go workout tonight? I’m not in the mood to buy jewellery.” George sighed as he followed Edward into a little jewelry shop that was located on Church street. ‟Do you think I should get something for Riley?”

‟I really don’t know. It might be a little too much don’t you think? Alfred says she’s barely talking to you still.” Edward shrugged as he was patiently waiting for the lady standing behind the counter to acknowledge his presence.

‟Please, don’t mind my well being and continue to add some more salt on my wounds.” George rolled his eyes. ‟What are we doing here anyway?”

Edward ignored him and talked to the lady instead. ‟I’ve received a call saying my rings were done.”

The lady went to the back of her store and came back with a little box in her hands a few seconds later.

‟Alfred didn’t want to pick his own ring? He’s turning into a real groomzilla lately.” George smirked as Edward flashed him an infuriated look. ‟You should be careful with what you are doing if you still want him to bill and coo. No need to anger Mr. Snuggles. Right, Angel babe?”

‟I’m surprised your Mama never taught you that listening to private conversations behind closed door was impolite.”

‟I’m not calling it listening to private conversations when I can bloody hear you two babble and moan from the other side of your flat at freaking 2 in the morning.” George frowned at him. ‟Aren’t you tired? I mean- Alright, I’ll shut up!”

At this point, both Edward and the little lady that was standing behind the counter were giving him the stink eye.

He sighed as Edward studied his rings and payed for them while he looked distractedly at the various jewels that were on display.

He let out an impressed whistle when he spotted the amount Edward had to pay on the cash register.

The latter then grabbed his box and thanked the employee before they turned around and left her store.

George seemed a bit shocked as he glanced at him. ‟Did you really pay almost £1000 For two rings?”

He shrugged. ‟Yep. I certainly did.”

‟Weddings are crazily costly if you want my honest opinion.”

Edward shrugged once more. ‟As Alfred said, we are doing this only once.”

‟Can I look at them? Or am I going to curse you even more?” George winked at him.

Edward grinned and handed him the box.

George quickly opened it.  Inside were two very simple yellow gold wedding bands.

‟Wow. Those are very classic and boring and they still cost that much? I’m kind of disappointed.”

‟Look at the smaller one.”

He frowned. ‟I’m looking at it and it’s identical to the other one. What am I supposed to see?”

‟Pick it out of the box and you will see,” Edward replied mysteriously.

George frowned and felt something on the inside of the ring as he picked it up.

He looked at it more closely and saw at once something was engraved on the inside of the ring. _‟_ _I have found the one whom my soul loves._ _”_ George sighed. ‟Does Alfred know about this?”

Edward grinned and shook his head.

George flashed him a wide grin and clapped him on the shoulder. ‟I’m positive now; he clearly is going to bawl his eyes out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the next chapter, we will find out the gender of Mina’s baby and Edward will pay a visit to his mom (who isn’t a big fan of Alfred as we all know).  
> Do you think Baby Paget is a boy or a girl?  
> Also, this is not a drill, there is only one month left in this story before the wedding!  
> Thank you for reading, commenting and leaving kudos! Xxx Those really keep me going!


	13. Boo-oy or ghoul?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward pays a visit to his mother; Alfred hosts Mina’s gender reveal and George (finally) moves out.

‟Welcome to my crib!” George exclaimed as Mina, Alfred and Septimus crossed the threshold of his newly built house.

It was rather small and gave a vague impression of being unfinished.

George had not even bothered to paint the walls yet and had left them all white, something Alfred felt personally attacked by.

The oldest Paget gave them a tour of his place; something that was quickly over with, since his house only had two bedrooms, a restroom, a small kitchen and a living room.

They all came to a halt in the last room and George seemed quite proud of himself as he sat down on his new couch.

‟I like it. It’s spacious, but mostly sparse.” Alfred quirked an eyebrow at his older brother. ‟Aren’t you planning on buying a table and some chairs, at least?”

‟Why should I? I have my couch to sit on. Plus, I have a TV to look at.” He smirked as Mina rolled her eyes and sat down next to him. ‟Those are the only two things a real man needs in his life.  Nothing more and nothing less.”

‟Nice to know you’ve got your priorities sorted out Gege.” Mina snorted as Septimus walked around the room.

‟Are you really sure you want to move in immediately? I mean the floors aren’t even finished yet...” Septimus stopped by the window and stared at his own house.

Seeing how George’s place had been completed in such a short period of time was giving him some ideas for his own.

After all, with a baby on the way and possibly a second one in a near future, their house would be overcrowded before long.

George shrugged. ‟Screw the floors! My mental health is more important than anything else. No one is going to force me to do some useless and boring chores anymore. I mean what is the purpose of doing the dishes anyway?” He scratched his chin. ‟No one is going to tell me to stop playing video games because there is a boring political debate airing on TV. And, more importantly, there will be no more ‘ _aw… aw… aaaah Edward_ ‘ in the middle of the night for me, which is a big big plus.”

Alfred sighed as Septimus snorted.

Mina rubbed her baby bump and shook her head. ‟You are doing it wrong. It’s supposed to sound more like this: ‘ _EdwaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAaaaaaard_ ‘. You need to stress the ‟a” for a whole ten minutes or else, you are clearly faking it.”

Both George and Septimus burst out laughing as Alfred rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. ‟Mina, I revoke your status of BFF from now on.”

‟I love you too, you noisy little you.” She blew him a kiss as Alfred stuck his tongue out at her.

George shrugged. ‟Anyway, I’m thrilled to have my own place. I must admit I’ll miss the food though. You clearly can cook Plumpy. Drums is also kind of nice to hang out with because he’s not constantly blathering.” He cleared his throat. ‟Princess is also the cutest little puppy to have ever graced this Earth. Oh, and-”

Mina cooed as both Septimus and Alfred stared mockingly at their older brother.

‟Gege, stop being sentimental. It does not suit you very well. Plus, your backyard is connected to ours. I literally will be able to see you from my kitchen window.” Alfred smirked at him.

George grinned. ‟You think so? I guess I won’t stroll around naked too much then. I certainly don’t want Drums to get a show.”

They all burst out laughing as Princess ran into the house to investigate what was going on inside her new playground.

***

Finally, after six long months of silence, Frances Drummond had agreed to meet her son.

Their last meeting, which had turned out to be a complete disaster, had irremediably damaged the strong bond that had always united the two since Frances had been extremely displeasing to Alfred through it all.

As Edward anxiously waited for her arrival, sitting in a café that was located between his house and hers, he nervously began to scratch the back of his neck.

To distract his mind, he kept glancing at his phone even though he hadn’t received any new message for a good while.

He was worried that Alfred would call him and would discover he wasn’t back at work, as he had told him he would be.

It was a very good thing Alfred was blindly trusting him. He wasn’t doing anything wrong, but still.

His boyfriend had seemed a bit bummed out by the fact he was supposed to stay late at work once more, but he had somehow managed to cheer him up by swearing they would go on a date soon and that he would cook something for him over the weekend.

Lying to Alfred was a very tedious task and it seemed he was doing it more and more lately.

The good thing was that his last dance class was scheduled for the next week and that they would be wed in about 3 weeks, which meant all the stress and the trouble of planning their big day would be over with.

After the wedding, they would spend a blessed week together all alone in the middle of nowhere, with no work, no trouble and no George to bother them.

He was just texting a reply to Jr —the latter had yet again sent him an updated version of their wedding costs—when someone coughed politely next to him.

He looked up as his mother pulled herself a chair and sat down in front of him.

For a minute, the two stared at each other in silence.

He frowned and so did she.

He had inherited his stubbornness from her, something Frances was often cursing about.

Loosing his father at a very young age had meant he had spent most of his life in his mother's sole company and she had always been a big supporter of everything he had ever achieved since his birth.

Well, of everything except of his meeting with Alfred.

Since he had begun to date the latter, their relationship had gotten from bad to worse.

Frances cleared her throat and glanced at him.

She averted her gaze as he stared back at her.

They both took a sip of their coffee, the weight of everything left unsaid between them heavy in the air.

Frances finally broke the silence after what seemed to be an eternity. ‟So, it seems you really did ask your friend to marry you…”

‟I did.” He stared out by the window since he felt he couldn’t look at her now. ‟I had warned you that the next time you would see Alfred he would be my fiancé.”

She shut her eyes and exhaled loudly. ‟It seems very clear to me you don’t want me in your life anymore then, since you bluntly ignored my warnings and went on with your ridiculous engagement.”

He looked at her coldly. ‟My ridiculous engagement? Me getting engaged to Florence was ridiculous. I still can’t believe you convinced me to do so.” He rubbed his forehead. ‟I can’t believe how stupid I have been back then when all along, I suspected I was into men.”

She stared around them and returned his dark stare. ‟You are going to lower your tone, young man. I don’t want everyone to hear about your indiscretion.”

‟My indiscretion? Are you calling what Alfred and I have an indiscretion?” he snarled.

‟Edward Charles Drummond, I’ve raised you and you have no right to use that tone with me.”

‟You raised me to be kind and open-minded mother, something you clearly don’t seem to be anymore. I really don’t understand what the matter is with you. Even your sister as sent her invitation back stating she would be present at my wedding.” It was her turn to avoid his stare. ‟Imagine how ashamed I feel right now, when I think about the fact my own mother hasn’t even confirmed she would be present on my wedding day.  It’s not fair to me and it’s not fair to Alfred either.”

Frances groaned loudly and shook her head. ‟Diane has grandchildren of her own by now! It doesn’t bother her that her nephew is a…” She paused and took a sharp breath in as Edward clenched his jaw.

‟You can’t even bring yourself to say the word, can you?” His voice was cold and sharp.

There was a long pause as Frances slowly pulled a tissue from out of her handbag and dabbed at the small tears that were welling up in her eyes.

‟I don’t have a problem with you being that way Edward. I just have a problem with you being with _him_.”

He groaned. ‟Him being Alfred?”

‟Yes, _Alfred._ _”_

Edward snorted mockingly. ‟What I don’t get is how you can loathe him so much when you have barely even spoken to him.”

‟What do you want us to talk about? Should we talk about how he is robbing me of ever getting grandchildren? About how he has stolen you from me?” Tears were now rolling down her cheeks as he stared at her with disbelief. ‟You used to call me every two days.  He’s standing in between us and now you want me to be present and be happy to see the two of you unite as if it was the most natural and most wonderful thing that could ever have happened to you?”

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. ‟I’m really beginning to regret meeting you here tonight. We clearly aren’t on the same page. I don’t understand why you are making such a big deal out of this.” He snatched his phone and got up in order to leave. ‟Alfred is the love of my life and nothing will change this or make me think otherwise. I have only one thing left to tell you and that is that if you think you can’t support me and be happy for me on the most important day of my life, you better not show up at the wedding. Alfred doesn’t deserve your resentment and neither do I.”

She stared out the window, her attention fixed on the tiny drops of rain that were falling on the pavement as her only son walked away from the café without even glancing back at her once.

***

Sept at 9.50:

**Mama! I think Alf has def lost his marbles. He’s sitting in my kitchen right now and he can’t stop laughing. He’s making Mina laugh too and the baby is having hiccups in her womb.**

**Look at this video: Insanity.mp4**

Charlie P. at 9.52:

**What have you done to him?**

Sept at 9.54:

**Me? Nothing!**

**I heard a loud bang coming from downstairs. I opened the window and yelled outside to know if everything was alright and he just climbed up here, almost naked and laughing like mad. He hasn’t even stopped since.**

**Wait, I think he’s calming down.**

Charlie P. at 10.02.

**?????**

Sept at 10.15:

**Sorry for the delay. I was laughing too. Blimey Mama, you won’t believe what Alfred has just done.**

**He broke his bed.**

**He literally broke the frame of his damn bed.**

Charlie P. at 10.16:

**Tell him he’ll need to tell me all the details next weekend! Xxx**

***

‟-Then, _obviously,_ we were in the mood.”

‟When are you not in the mood Alf, I swear.”

Alfred snorted and winked as everyone was listening to his retelling of the broken bed incident.

His parents and his brothers William and Richard had joined him back at his house since he was hosting a gender reveal party for Mina.

Nancy Francatelli was also there, sitting on the couch in the background.

Her relationship with Mina wasn’t back at what it used to be since she had learned Mina had kept her pregnancy a secret from her, but it was on the mend, which was a good thing.

Since it was supposed to be Halloween the next day, Alfred had decided to throw a themed party. Banners with the caption ‟Boo-oy or Ghoul” were hanging everywhere and George had managed to carve a pumpkin in the shape of a baby carriage—he had profusely cursed upon carving it but had somehow managed to obtain a good result in the end.

Blue and pink Halloween candies were placed on the kitchen table and Septimus was subtly sneaking chips to Princess, who was hidden under the table at his feet.

‟You are just jealous George.” Alfred winked at his older brother who rolled his eyes. ‟ Alright, so obviously I decided to give my boyfriend a show, because since my idiot of a big brother moved out, I’m free to do as I please. So, I begin to strip out of my clothes while Edward is staring at me on the bed.” He took a sip of water before he resumed his story. ‟ I’ll just skip some details, because Edward is clearly going to kill me if I tell you too much. So, I join him on the bed and things are quickly heating up when we decide to switch out position—by the way I’ve forwarded your magazines to Sept, Mama—when suddenly we heard a loud crack and with a big bang we found ourselves on the floor with the bed frame smashed in two right in the middle.” Alfred shrugs as he takes another sip of his drink.

Everyone is laughing out loud at this point and even Edward, who is sitting next to him, is snorting.

The latter, madly blushing, chimed in. ‟We were both shook and when Alfred finally managed to get off of me, he was laughing so much I started laughing too. It was hilarious.”

Henry blew his nose loudly as Charlotte giggled some more. ‟What have you done with your bed frame?”

George snorted and poured himself some more wine. ‟I helped Alfred to throw it out in the trash. I swear our neighbor Violet thought we were disposing of a dead body in the middle of the night. You should have seen her face when she turned her light on and saw us dragging with all the difficulty in the world the broken pieces of the bed frame that were rolled up in a blanket out of the house.”

Everyone burst out laughing once more as Mina wiped some tears on the corner of her left eye.

‟We have been sleeping on our mattress on the floor since then. We won’t buy a new bed frame until our wedding is over because it is turning out costlier than ever.” Alfred shrugged as Edward pulled him down on his lap.

Henry frowned at his youngest. ‟You know, we wouldn’t mind lending you some money Alfred.”

The latter smirked and batted his eyelashes. ‟I’d rather you keep it all saved up for when I’ll want baby Paget-Drummond.”

Charlotte and Henry looked at each other with excitement. ‟Are we to understand we might get a second grandbaby in a near future?”

‟Not before a good five years.” Edward replied as Alfred sighed with annoyance.

Princess whined as there was an awkward silence in the room.

William cleared his throat. ‟So, the weather is nice.”

‟Yep it’s very autumn-y.” replied George as Alfred left his boyfriend’s lap and walked up to the kitchen.

‟Someone wants some tea?” Mina chimed in.

The conversation remained on a more neutral ground until there was a loud knock on the door.

 Edward shrugged as he got up to get it and was surprised to see who had just showed up.

A few minutes later, the mysterious visitor stepped in the living room and sighed loudly. ‟Have I missed the big reveal?”

‟Auntie! I’m so…glad to see you! “quickly exclaimed Wilhelmina as she sat back down at the table.

The old lady waved her off. ‟Yes yes, I bet you are. In what kind of world do we live in where men, who usually lend their heart, are getting married, and where we are celebrating the fact women are having babies out of wedlock? Turn around so I can stare correctly at your belly Wilhelmina.” Aunt Buccleuch squinted at her niece. ‟ It clearly is a girl. See how your belly hangs lower.” She sat on the couch next to Richard who sighed. ‟Young folks these days, always playing with their electronic devices. In my time-”

Alfred cleared his throat loudly as Edward left the room to fetch something in the kitchen. ‟Thank you, auntie, for delighting us with your lovely advices and your kind presence. As the godfather, I had the privilege to find out baby Paget’s gender first and feel that now is the proper time to reveal it to everyone else.”

Nancy glanced at Mina with surprise. ‟Our little Alfred is the godfather? Who’s the godmother then?”

‟No one. Alfred is more than-” Mina sighed loudly as she stared darkly at George who was snickering in the background. ‟George, I don’t even want to know what you were about to say...”

Alfred sighed and went on with his explanation as Edward, back from the kitchen, handed him a big plastic container that seemed to be full to the brim with cakes.

‟I decided to go on with the cake idea. I baked these cupcakes this morning and fought with the pastry bag because it was the first time I had to stuff-”

George burst out laughing. ‟Oh yeah, we all know you usually are the one being stuffed.”

‟George, can’t you please let your brother talk. We want to know more about our grandbaby.” Henry glared at his oldest, while Edward coughed loudly and turned a deep shade of crimson.

‟If we can’t have some fun anymore...” George groaned as he sat back down.

Alfred sighed as Edward, still blushing furiously, kissed the top of his head and embraced him. ‟So, as I was saying before I was abruptly interrupted by my idiotic big brother, those cute little cupcakes are stuffed with a colored frosting. If it’s pink it means baby Paget is a girl and if it’s blue, it means it’s a baby boy.”

Nancy frowned as she looked at the cupcakes who were strangely shaped and weirdly iced. ‟What are those supposed to be exactly?”

Alfred groaned and rolled his eyes as Edward gave him a quick peck. ‟Those are ghosts. You know, to go with my Halloween theme!?!”

George quirked an eyebrow at him. ‟Please, tell me you won’t drop your job as a secretary to become a pastry chef soon because you are clearly going to end up in the streets.”

Charlotte swat her oldest behind the head as Alfred handed everyone a little cake.

There were loud cries of joy as everyone bit into their cupcake and discovered what color was the icing.

It seemed baby Paget was going to be a very lucky and well loved little boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drumfred’s wedding is on the 24TH of November. It’s coming up SOON!  
> Next chapter, prepare yourself for some shenanigans because Edward’s Bachelor Party and Alfred’s Gaylorette are coming up!  
> Btw, since the wedding is coming up quickly, if there’s some things you would like me to write about, feel free to message me on tumblr or in a comment :D  
> Thank you for reading, commenting and leaving kudos! Xxx Those really keep me going!


	14. Keep calm, it’s my gaylorette or How Edward ended up way too drunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THE BACHELOR PARTY AND THE GAYLORETTE ARE FINALLY HAPPENING!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to @ Whydidtheydothis, who is always there to answer to my questions and with whom I’ve been discussing all things Drumfred for the last 6 months Xxxx Your suggestion for Alfred’s hunk is GOLD!
> 
> Chapter 14 is full of clichés and shenanigans. You have been warned!
> 
> ALSO, I REALLY FOUND CHARLIE’S COOKIE CUTTER ONLINE!!!

Mina and George had decided that Edward’s bachelor party and Alfred’s gaylorette would be held on the same night.

Charles Francatelli, Septimus, George and Ernest Coburg had all joined Edward for a night of fun downstairs, while Alfred, his mother, Mina and Nancy were partying upstairs before they would leave later during the evening to go party elsewhere.

The boys were all sitting on the couch and watching a movie —an action movie with hot half naked chicks in it since George had picked it— while they were eating chips and candies.

Charlotte Paget, the last guest to arrive to her son’s party, had stopped by on her way upstairs and had left them some more snacks and a little box of cookies.

She had various bags in her arms and judging by the weird things that were sticking out of them, it clearly seemed Alfred’s party was going to be wilder than Edward’s.

Which wasn’t a surprise, really.

Charlotte was wearing a t-shirt with the words ‘ _Keep calm, I’m the groom’s mother_ ᾿ on it and she snorted and wished them a good night as she closed the door behind her.

Septimus frowned as he watched her leave. ‟ Seems Mama is clearly up to some mischief.”

George nodded. ‟I have a mind to go and check how everything is going up there. It’s a shame your girlfriend forbade Alf from bringing his phone with him tonight.” He gestured to said phone that was on the kitchen table.

It had buzzed and ringed on various occasions and he was very interested to know who was constantly texting his baby brother since Edward was sitting down next to him and wasn’t the one doing it for once.

‟Mina said she is going to send me updates during the evening, but only if she feels like it.

Edward turned his attention to him as a woman was yet again undressing for no valid reason on the screen. ‟Do you know where they are going?”

Septimus shrugged. ‟I know they are going out to dance at the club. They might go and sing at the karaoke too, for all I know.”

Ernest, his eyes glued on the screen, poked Charles on the arm. He was freshly out of chips and was still hungry. ‟Hand me that box over there Francatelli. I want some of Charlie Paget’s cookies.”

Charles handed Ernest the cookie box as Septimus gave everyone another beer.

The womanizer cursed upon opening the box and closed it back as fast as he could. ‟Never mind the cookies.”

Charles quirked an eyebrow at him. ‟What’s wrong with them, are they burned?”

Ernest seemed very uncomfortable, which was an extremely rare occurrence and avoided his stare. ‟Open the box and you’ll see for yourself Francatelli.”

Charles quirked an eyebrow at him and slowly opened the box.

It was full to the brim with cookies.  Large and oddly shaped cookies.

They were in the shape of two stick figures.

One was standing up while the other was kneeling in front of it and was…‟OMG, MY EYES!”

***

‟I’m in love with your cookies Charlie. It’s a shame you weren’t there for my hen night earlier this year.” Nancy Francatelli broke her cookie in two and handed the other half to Mina who snickered loudly. ‟Mina, do you want Alf or Drums?”

Pop music was playing in the background while Alfred and his girl squad were drinking Champagne Jello shots and eating various amuse-bouches as they were finishing to get ready for their night out of fun.

Charlie Paget, Champage glass in hand, shrugged as her youngest picked another cookie from her box. ‟I saw that cookie cutter online and asked Richard to order it ASAP!”

‟I’m sure he flipped out when you asked him to order it.” Alfred flashed his mother a grin as he seized another shot. ‟I love your attention to details Mama. Adding icing to represent our hair color was a splendid idea.”

‟I thought that way you could each get a turn.” Charlie sipped her drink. ‟I’ve sent a batch to your fiancé too. Do you think he’s going to like them?”

Mina gasped loudly. ‟You did what? Dear god, the boys are going to have a heart attack.”

‟As if they don’t all enjoy getting blowjobs.” Nancy rolled her eyes as Charlotte nodded. ‟Charles was very shy to see me buy those balloons. I mean what’s wrong with them?”

She pointed to said balloons. Some were plain black while others had a simple line written on them: _Same dick forever._

‟Men.”

‟Well, if he felt squeamish when you bought those he better not come upstairs for the next part of the evening then.” Mina waggled her eyebrows as she pulled out a blindfold and a giant poster from out of one of Charlie’s bag. “Alfred, we’ve just invited a hunk to your party, but the poor man lost his junk on his way here.”

Everyone burst into laughter as Mina pulled out a printed image of the poor hunk’s missing junk and handed it over to her best friend.

Alfred smirked and grabbed what she was handing him without hesitation. ‟Your hunk shouldn’t worry too much. I really don’t mind lending him a hand or two…”

The whole squad erupted into laughter as Mina unfolded the poster.

Nancy stared at it and frowned. ‟Who’s that guy anyway?” she asked as Charlie gave her another drink.

Mina glued the poster on her kitchen wall. ‟That’s one of the actors Alfred likes from that show he keeps watching on repeat. What’s his name already?”

‟Isn’t it Leo something?”

Alfred shrugged as his mother helped him tie the blindfold. ‟Yeah, it’s Leo Suter. I think he looks a bit like Edward.”

Nancy gasped as she stared more attentively at the poster. ‟Gosh, he does look like Drums. He’s like a younger and more angelic version of him.”

***

Downstairs, the movie was finally over and the boys were now sitting around the kitchen table and were just getting ready to start a poker game.

A poker game where no money was going to be involved since Edward was against gambling.

‟We could still play strip poker…” George added as they all frowned at him.

Edward shook his head as he picked another card from the pack that was placed face down on the table. ‟The only Paget I want to see naked for the rest of my life is my future husband; thank you very much.”

Septimus gave him the thumbs up as he left the room and went to pick some more beers from the fridge.

He handed one to everyone and George, who was studying him, frowned upon seeing he hadn’t picked a beer for himself.

‟Are you pregnant too?” George laughed at his own joke and Septimus rolled his eyes. He lowered his voice while Ernest and Charles were arguing loudly in the background. ‟ You should really slow down with the alcohol or Drums is going to end up drunk before the end of the night.”

Septimus looked pointedly at him. ‟That’s precisely what I want to achieve.”

George seemed puzzled and everyone stopped talking as they heard loud giggles coming from upstairs.

‟Sounds like the gaylorette is fun,” Charles said regretfully as Ernest sighed.

Princess seemed to think the same too and decided to leave the room to go upstairs and see what her papa was up to.

‟Nonsense! We are having an awesome time here.” George exclaimed cheerfully as his belly gurgled loudly. ‟Screw it, I am still hungry. Hand me that cookie box Coburg.”

***

‟See, I did say I knew how to handle these.” Alfred smirked as he pulled his blindfold off and looked at the poster.

Out of the four of them, he had been the one who had pinned the hunk’s junk the closest to where it belonged.

‟Alfred, you dick wrangler extraordinaire.” Nancy blew him a kiss as he winked at her seductively.  ‟Alright now, sit down. We have some gifts for you.”

‟Gifts? I thought gifts were supposed to be given at the wedding.” He seemed a bit puzzled but sat down anyway.

Nancy grinned madly as Charlie pulled out a present from one of her bags. ‟Not that type of gifts, baby.”

Mina smiled and rubbed her baby bump as Princess curiously looked at the bag Charlotte was handing to her son.

‟This is to be opened the morning after your wedding night.”

Alfred quirked an eyebrow at his mother and whistled loudly as he pulled a Dom Perignon bottle of Champagne from out of her bag.

‟Mama, that must have cost a fortune!”

Nancy picked the bottle from out of his hands and looked at it with curiosity as Charlotte handed her son a big hot pink envelope.

‟I asked Richard to order this online along with the cookie cutter.”

Alfred ripped it open and found a card inside the envelope. He read it out loud, ‟Wishing you loads of happenis”

Obviously, the bad pun caused everyone to erupt into more chuckles.

‟Mama, you are incorrigible and I love you for it.” Alfred kissed her cheek before he resumed his reading. ‟Isn’t this gift a bit costly though?”

‟I told you I was going to get you a new mattress in the first place, don’t you remember? Since you broke your bed frame as well it makes perfect sense your father and I replaced it at the same time, no?”

‟You two are way too generous. I love you.” He gave her a side hug and she kissed his head as Mina handed him a card she had made herself.

On it were two rings and two funny characters who probably were representing him and Edward.

The thing was Mina liked to craft but wasn’t particularly good at it.

She winked at him. ‟That’s Drums and you.”

He snorted as Nancy quickly took a sip of her drink to prevent herself from commenting on the ugly art. ‟Yes, I can see that. I love it.”

Inside the card was a very simple message: _I’ll be cooking so you can keep on banging_.

He quirked an eyebrow at her.

She shrugged. ‟I’m going to fill the fridge of the little house you are renting with precooked food. That way you won’t need to focus on the cooking all the time.”

Charlotte nodded in approval as a giggling Nancy got up from the couch and went to get a little wrapped box from out of her purse.

‟This one is a collaboration between us and your friend Victoria.” Both girls snorted as Alfred grabbed the box and frowned as he unwrapped it.

Charlotte, who was petting Princess, seemed pretty interested by what was inside the box and craned her neck to have a better look at it.

Alfred waggled his eyebrows as he pulled a garter out of the box.

The ruffle around its edge was white but the accent color of the ribbon in its middle was blue. There was a big bow on it as well and it looked pretty refined.

Charlotte snapped a picture of her son with his present and sent it to her husband as Nancy and Mina giggled some more.

‟Of course, we picked the blue one to go with your eyes.”

‟Do you think Drums will like it?”, chimed in Mina as laughter spread around once more.

***

‟The more I look at those cookies, the more I have questions popping into my mind. Like can you be allergic to jizz?”

‟George, you’ve drank enough for now.” Septimus sighed as he pulled his brother’s drink away from him. ‟Plus, you are making Drums uncomfortable. If you don’t behave, I’ll send you back to your house.”

George seemed offended and tried to grab his drink back, but Septimus was having none of it.

‟You can’t send me back home, I’m too drunk to drive.”

‟Bloody good thing you live in my backyard then, you utter prat!”

The poker game was already coming to an end and Charles Francatelli was winning.

Not that he was winning anything valuable anyway, but still.

Ernest, who hated to lose, groaned angrily as he downed his drink.

They had run out of beer in the middle of the game and Septimus had offered to prep them some drinks which, even to him, seemed pretty heavy on the Whiskey.

He threw his cards on the table as Charles was cackling madly. He glanced at his watch. ‟Is there going to be a stripper at some point?”

‟Well, I wanted to, but Mr. Septimus-I’m-boring-as-fuck here has convinced me not to hire one.” George rolled his eyes as Edward loudly cleared his throat.

Septimus facepalmed. ‟You big dumbass; you can’t hire a woman stripper if it’s for a gay bachelor party.”

Charles interrupted his victory dance and frowned at them. ‟What?  Is there really going to be a man who's going to strip here?”

Edward seemed to panic and stared at them both with wide eyes. ‟George, I told you I didn’t want a stripper!”

‟Oh damn, I’ve just remembered I have a very important appointment to go to.” Ernest got up a bit shakily and quickly grabbed his stuff.

‟I’ll go with him and will bring us some more junk food back.” Charles said as he picked his stuff too.

 He was just following Ernest outside when they heard some more laughter coming from upstairs.

‟I think the gaylorette squad is leaving.” George got up from his chair and went to the window to check outside.

Both Septimus and Edward joined him seconds later ‟Do you see them?”

‟No, but I can already smell Alf’s cologne from a mile away.”

Surely enough, not even a minute later, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

Charlotte and Nancy were both wearing very high heels while Mina was wearing a cute but weird patterned little dress.

Alfred was wearing a suit with a sash on which it was possible to read: _Keep calm, it’s my gaylorette._

Princess followed them downstairs and sat on her favorite step as she watched them all get inside the uber they had scheduled.

***

Sept at 10.15:

**How is the gaylorette going? Is Mama still in check?**

Mina at 10.20:

**We are at the karaoke. Your mum is a bit tipsy, but she’s behaving so far!**

Septimus snorted as he watched the video her girlfriend had just sent him along with her text.

It showed a slightly tipsy Alfred singing _Like a virgin_ with Nancy while his mama was clapping energetically in the background.

The gaylorette really seemed to be fun while here they were bored and playing video games.

Ernest had vanished and had not come back and Francatelli was beginning to be quite drunk. George was louder than usual and Edward was laughing more and more but he still had not reached the level of drunkenness Septimus was looking for.

Tonight was the night Edward would need to answer for his whereabouts and nothing, not even the shadow of a shortage of alcohol was going to stop him from reaching his goal.

***

‟Another cocktail Alf?” Nancy asked as loud music was booming in the background. The two were standing at the bar while Charlotte was dancing in the middle of the dance floor of their favorite club.

The latter was surrounded by young men who all seemed amazed by her dancing skills and were dazed by her beauty and her charm while Mina, horrified, was trying to keep an eye on her.

‟What’s this one called?”

Nancy smirked. ‟A stiff one.”

‟You know fully well I can’t say no to that.”

They both chuckled as they ordered another round.

The two were downing their drinks when a flustered Mina walked up to them with a positively drunk Charlotte in tow.

Nancy grabbed Charlotte by the arm and dragged her to the restroom so the two could fix their hair.

As Mina sat down next to Alfred she let out a surprised exclamation and froze mid-movement.

Alfred, concerned, quickly placed his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. ‟Are you alright Mina?”

As a simple answer she grabbed his right hand and placed it on her baby bump. ‟Seems your godson wants to party too.”

***

‟I’m positive, this is the most boring party I’ve ever been to.” George sighed loudly as he pushed Charles away from him. The latter was leaning on him and was snoring loudly.

Septimus shrugged. ‟Don’t look at me like that. _You_ were the one who planned it.”

Edward downed the new drink Septimus was handing him and silently stared at them both.

‟What’s next? Are we going to discuss rhetorical questions like what came first: the chicken or the egg?”

Edward snorted, ‟It was me. I came first. I always do.”

Both Septimus and George stared at each other with shock.

‟What?”

‟What!”

***

Mina at 11.23:

**We are done with the karaoke. The baby is having fun too and Alfred felt him kick for the first time:D**

**How’s the bachelor party going along?**

Sept at 11.25:

**The party is MAD here.**

**How’s my mum?**

Mina at 11.30:

**She’s dancing on a table with Alf…**

***

It was close to one in the morning when the gaylorette squad finally left the club.

They were back in a cab and Charlotte was drunkenly texting her husband while Nancy was yet again applying some more lipsticks on her plump lips. 

Alfred was trying to fix his hair with the help of the little mirror that was on the inside of Nancy’s make-up box.‟What a crazy night! My feet are killing me and my throat feels sore from all that off-key singing.”

‟I hope you are not too tired baby.” Charlotte began as she tried to place her phone back into her purse. ‟We still have a final stop on our list.”

Alfred looked at her with puzzlement as Nancy smirked. ‟It wouldn’t be a gaylorette if we did not hit the strip club...”

He vehemently shook his head. ‟Edward won’t like it”

Mina yawned and poked him in the ribs. ‟What he doesn’t know can’t hurt him.”

She usually wasn’t one to go to those kinds of establishment, but her best friend was getting married and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so.

‟That’s tempting, but I don’t know.” He began to nervously scratch the back of his head. ‟I really don’t want to upset him so close to the wedding day.”

‟Ah come on son. This is only for fun.” Charlotte added as both Mina and Nancy nodded.

Alf sighed. Time would tell if this had been a good idea or not, he guessed.

***

‟Are you sure he’s drunk enough?” George frowned as Septimus handed Edward yet again another Whiskey. ‟It won’t be good if you anger him with your nosy questions.”

Both brothers stared at their future brother-in-law with puzzlement as Edward flashed them a wonky smile.

George cleared his throat and racked his brain to find a good question to ask when one of Charlie’s explicit cookies that had been left on the table caught his eyes. ‟Hey Drums, what does jizz taste like?”

Septimus sighed and facepalmed as Princess jumped down from the chair she was resting on and walked out of the kitchen.

She clearly was done with her uncles and her daddy and wondered when her sweet papa would come back home.

Edward shrugged and for a brief second, he seemed to consider his answer before he barked a laugh. ‟Why are you asking me, I spit.”

There was an awkward silence as both Pagets looked at each other.

‟He’s drunk as fuck.” George said as Septimus got up from where he was sitting on the couch and pulled himself a chair in front of Edward.

Charles snored loudly in the background.

‟Thanks for the info. Now, I’ve been wondering something. Where are you going when you are missing at night?”

Edward shrugged and tried to scratch his nose but ended up almost poking his eye instead.

He clearly was hammered. ‟Dancing.”

‟With whom?”

‟Me.” Edward burst out laughing as Septimus rolled his eyes. ‟I visited my mom too. She hates Alfred. She hates him with her whole gut.”

‟Sounds like drama will soon come up.” George added in the background as he rummaged through the pantry in order to find something to eat.

‟George, I like you, but it’s messed up. I want to punch your face 60% of the time and laugh with you the other 20%.” Edward began as he blinked and frowned.

‟You mean 40%.”

‟I’m an accountant, don’t mess with me. When I say 20%, I mean 20%.”

There was another pause as George tried to stifle a laugh and Princess whined from the bedroom.

She desperately wanted her papa now.

Septimus went on with his interrogation. ‟What about your ex?”

‟Florence?”

‟Yes, Florence. Does she work in a lingerie shop?”

Edward seemed puzzled ‟What’s lingerie?”

George sighed loudly. ‟Gosh, real-”

‟HAHAHA GOT YOU GEORGE, I KNOW WHAT LINGERIE IS AND I COULDN’T CARE LESS ABOUT IT.” This clearly seemed hilarious as Edward almost fell down from his chair and knocked his glass by accident.

George quirked an eyebrow at Septimus.‟I kind of like drunk Drums…”

Septimus gave him the stink eye. ‟Alright Drums. Did you cheat on your girlfriend?”

‟What?” Edward frowned. ‟I was still a virgin when I ended that relationship.”

‟You were still a virgin at 27? HAHAHAHA.”

George was positive, this boring evening was now turning into the best event EVER.

Septimus shrugged. ‟She goes around saying you were cheating on her. I just wanted to be sure you weren’t cheating on my brother.”

‟Cheating on your brother?” Edward seemed puzzled and stared at George with disgust.  ‟Him? I’m sorry but I don’t want to bone him.  Nope, not happening.”

‟The feeling is mutual Drums.”

Septimus rolled his eyes. ‟No, Alfred.”

‟Oh, Alfred is hot. He breathes, and I swear I get a boner. Have you seen his ass?”

George shook his head vehemently. ‟TMI! TMI!”

‟No and I don’t want to know more about it, thank you. What I want to know though is if you have been elsewhere the nights you weren’t home?”Septimus was remaining calm as he went on with his questioning.

He was going to get to the bottom of this and would finally be able to reassure Mina that everything was going fine between her best friend and his boyfriend.

Edward sighed dreamily. ‟He’s got the perkiest ass ever and he has that cute little tat-”

‟DRUMS, FOCUS!”

***

Inside the strip club, our little squad was having the time of their life. The lights were toned down and the place was full of ladies of various age screaming and cheering at guys who were dancing and shaking what their mama gave them on a stage.

‟Look at that cute guy.” Charlotte exclaimed as Nancy clapped and whistled loudly.

‟Mama.” Alfred snorted as Mina blushed.

She felt extremely uncomfortable to look at all those hot guys who were baring almost all in front of her.

‟That’s a hot one.” Nancy exclaimed dreamily as one of the strippers—a very tall, muscular and dark-haired good-looking guy — walked up to their table with nothing on except some very tight leopard boxers.

‟Hey if it’s not Alfred Paget.” He said as Alfred stood up and they shook hands.

‟Hey Dario, long time no see. You still work here then?”

The hot guy shrugged and flashed him a cute smile. ‟I still do. Medical school is costly.”

Both Nancy and Mina stared at him with curiosity as Charlotte got up to kiss him on both cheeks.

Alfred shrugged. ‟He’s one of my ex.”

Nancy blinked twice. ‟A doctor and a stripper?”

Alfred nodded.

‟OMG, I think I’m going to pass out from the hotness of it all.” Nancy sighed and began to fan herself as more excited women screamed in the background.

‟What are you doing here? Having fun with the squad?” Dario asked as he sat down on the edge of their table.

Some ladies were looking at them with envy and Nancy flashed them a smug smile.

‟It’s Alfred’s gaylorette. He’s getting married in two weeks.” Charlie replied as Dario whistled loudly.

***

‟I love your brother. I love him so much it hurts when he’s not here.” Edward said tearfully as both George and Septimus were trying to drag him in his bedroom. ‟Where is he?”

‟Partying.” George replied as Edward nearly bumped his head on the door frame.

‟Do you think he’s going to leave me?” Asked our poor Edward as both Pagets forced him to sit down on his mattress, something that wasn’t easy because it was on the floor since the broken bed incident.

‟Just go to sleep Drums and everything will be fine once you’ll wake up in the morning.” Septimus replied as George quickly closed the door behind them.

George sighed loudly. ‟Damn, drunk Drums is fun but is a ton of work!”

Septimus nodded. ‟He’s almost as bad as Papa.”

‟At least now you know for sure he’s not cheating on Alf.”

‟Which is a good thing. There’s no need to create drama where there is none, right?” Septimus added as they walked back to the kitchen to clean the place out.

*******

Nancy and Charlotte were both hysterical as Alfred and another girl who was here for her hen night were both getting a lap dance on stage.

Of course, Dario DiFabiosi, now wearing a doctor’s uniform, was giving his ex a great show.

Women were yelling everywhere as Alfred cheered and flashed his squad a grin.

‟THAT CUTIE SHOULD STRIP TOO!!!” A woman yelled from the back of the room as a man, who was sitting alone in the dark close to the exit looked up at the stage to see who that woman was referring to.

A smile slowly crept on Vincent Leclerc’s lips as he recognized who said cutie was.

***

Edward was trying to stop giggling and sobbing so he could finally get to sleep, when Alfred’s phone, whom George had placed on his nightstand earlier, buzzed.

He shakily got up from the mattress to grab it but knocked it down on the floor with his clumsy hands.

As he bent down to pick it up, he bumped into the dresser and its drawer fell on the floor with a loud thud.

He frowned as a big box fell down along with it.

A box that belonged to Alfred and which he remembered had been hidden under their bed before the broken bed incident.

He tried to open it, failed to do so because he was way too drunk and seemed to lack coordination, giggled loudly and tripped on the mattress where he finally collapsed and passed out.

When Septimus checked on him an hour later, he was peacefully snoring and drooling on his pillow.

***

Unknown sender at 2.25:

**Here’s what your boyfriend was up to last night.**

**Paget1.jpg, Paget2.jpg, Paget3.jpg, Paget4.jpg**

**No need to thank me.**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, commenting and leaving kudos! Xxx Those really keep me going!
> 
> PS: Yes, Dario is the bf I mentioned in Camp it up! :D


	15. The storm before the calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> George causes some drama and Alfred makes a rash decision.

__

When Edward woke up the morning after his bachelor party, he felt as though he had been trampled by a herd of elephants…Twice.

He had a very sharp headache and his mouth was as dry as if he had not drunk anything for the last three years.

The room seemed to be spinning around him, but he somehow managed to crawl to the restroom where he was almost sure he was going either to throw up or to die.

There was no in between.

He could feel a sharp pain in his stomach as he wondered why he had taken so much alcohol last night.

It was safe to say he had never been even remotely close to beeing that drunk in his entire life.

As he leaned against the toilet, he closed his eyes and waited for the dizziness to go away.

How long he waited there, he couldn’t say, but after a while he finally threw up.

Then, feeling somewhat better, he slowly managed to get back to bed where he drifted off to sleep.

When he woke up, some time later, Princess was staring at him with concern while George was rummaging through Alfred’s secret box.

Weird trinkets were all around him on the floor. He grinned at Edward. ‟Glad to know you are not dead Drums.”

Edward squinted and groaned. ‟Can you lower your voice George?”

Of course, instead of doing just that, George began to snort as loudly as possible, and obviously it worsened Edward’s headache.

Princess did not seem very impressed by either of them. She yawned as she settled down on the mattress for a nap.

‟You were hilarious last night Drums. I must confess you are quite the handful when you are sloshed. You’ve shared some personal stuff and spoke about sex very openly which was kind of odd.”

Edward rolled around on the mattress and placed a pillow over his eyes to dim the light that was filtering through the curtains. ‟Don’t tell me it freaked you out, because I don’t believe you.” He groaned once more as if he was on the verge of dying. ‟What exactly are you doing?”

‟Looking through Alf’s secret box. Where was it hidden?”

Edward shrugged and whished George would stop talking and just let him die.

‟This box is the best thing ever. It’s full of blackmail material.” George grinned like a madman. ‟In there, Alfred has journals and trinkets and photographs and poorly written fanfiction and…The fuck is he doing with baby clothes?”

Edward sighed loudly.  ‟What do you mean exactly by _baby clothes_?”

‟Look, there are three dresses and some tiny baby shoes to go with them as well.  Are you planning on adopting soon?”

Edward sighed even more loudly—if that was even possible— and moved his pillow a bit as to give George a dark look. ‟I can’t believe Alfred just went and bought baby stuff behind my back when I’ve explicitly told him having a baby was not in my plans.”

George shrugged as he continued to rummage through the box. ‟Plumpy is a sappy gay. He has always loved being around children. I mean he works in a school, what were you expecting?” He frowned.  ‟He had a little doll when he was like four and he would give it food and- wait, I think it might be in there.”

Edward moved the pillow off his face and squinted at George. The latter threw some more stuff out of the box before he pulled an odd looking and very worn out Cabbage Patch Kid doll out of it.

‟Drums, I want you to meet Harry, your step-son.”

Oh boy, Harry was quite the sight.

They both burst out laughing as George waved around Harry, the ugly red-haired doll.

After a few seconds, Edward stopped laughing abruptly because he was sure he was about to throw up once more.

He laid back down on the mattress as George went on with his rummaging.

After his nausea had subsided, he glanced at George. The latter was now opening some folded pieces of paper he had found in the bottom of the box and it really did not seem like a good idea.  ‟You shouldn’t look through this stuff; Alfred won’t like it.”

‟He won’t be here before the end of the afternoon. He will never know I’ve looked through it in the first place. I just want to see if he kept something that belongs to- Aaaaaaw look at that: it’s a poem you wrote to him.” George smirked as he read said poem. ‟Damn, it sucks.”

Edward shrugged and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like _᾿why can’t you just shut up?_ _᾿_ just as Septimus walked into the room and stared at them both.

He was carrying a plate and a glass in his hands. He sat down next to Edward and was careful not to wake Princess, who was snoring, in the process.

‟I’ve brought you some food and some medicine that will make you feel better Drums.” Septimus said as he handed the plate and the big glass of water to Edward, who managed to sit on the mattress with difficulty.

Septimus frowned at his older brother. ‟Alfred still has that box? Does he still keep a diary?”

George nodded as he flipped through the pages of a leather-bound booklet. ‟He did but he’s not keeping one right now.  Here’s one of his last entries.” George cleared his throat and began to read dramatically what was written on a page as Edward took a sip of water. ‟November 24th: I had sex with my new co-worker, Edward (you know, the guy I’ve been gushing about for the last week) on our first date and I’m not ashamed about it. I must admit the first-”

Edward spat his water on Princess, who woke up with a start and did not seem very pleased by it. ‟THAT’S PRIVATE STUFF GEORGE! STOP READING THAT.”

‟Gege, behave and stop checking through Alf’s stuff. He won’t like it if he finds that out.” Septimus grasped the booklet from out of George’s hands. The older Paget groaned loudly. ‟Oh, stop whining, you big baby! I’ll go and pick the gaylorette squad soon. Take care of Drums while I am gone and try to cook something or be useful for once or else I’ll tell Mama you were the one who stole her earrings to trade them off in third grade.”

George rolled his eyes and pulled his tongue out at his brother as Septimus left the room with Princess on his heels.

Edward, who was done eating, grabbed his phone while George began to place the stuff that was all around him on the floor back into Alfred’s box.

He was almost done when Edward began to curse profusely and loudly.

George smirked. ‟What’s wrong? Mr. Snuggles forgot to text you goodnight?”

As a simple answer, Edward threw his phone at him as he laid back down on the bed. George caught it in extremis before it fell on the ground.

The latter checked the screen and whistled at the pictures that showed his younger brother partying at a strip club. He shrugged. ‟Seems to me the gaylorette squad just had more fun than us last night. Don’t be jealous Drums, my mum probably is behind that and there’s- Fuck, that’s Dario.”

Edward sat bolt upright. ‟Who’s Dario?”

George quickly picked Alfred’s box back and began to search through it once more.

He was frowning as he pulled an old picture out of the box and handed it over to Edward, who wasn’t sure he wanted to see it. ‟That’s Dario. He was Alfred’s first boyfriend. They were together for about two years. He was his first everything.” George explained as Edward began to freak out.

Of course, he began to curse once more as he quickly obsessed over the picture.

Dario was extremely good-looking, and Alfred looked very happy in his arms in that picture.

Edward got up at once and began to pace around the room, his hangover completely forgotten.

George tried to get the picture back, but it was easier said than done. He scratched his hair as he tried to think about something to change the mood. ‟I remember Alf wrote about the time he lost his virginity in his blue diary. I can read it to you, but I don’t think you are going to like it.”

Needless to say, it stopped Edward in his track instantly. He blanched and sat back down on the bed. ‟Do you think Alfred still loves him? Do you think Dario wants to get him back?”

George shrugged as he finally closed the box and placed it on top of the dresser. ‟ Nah. When Alfred’s done with someone, it’s forever. I remember they were always together and everything and one day, Dario just disappeared. Alfred said he had grown out of love for him, which sounds kind of cryptic to me if you want my honest opinion.”

Edward rubbed the bridge of his nose as George slowly walked up to the door. He was done with this ridiculous conversation. ‟Look Drums, I shouldn’t have checked through that box. Get some sleep and stop thinking about it. Dario is in Alf’s past and you are his future.”

Edward nodded as he lay back down on his bed.

Of course, barely five minutes after George had left the room, jealousy got the best of him.

He got up, tiptoed to the dresser and began to look through the box too.

***

The gaylorette squad had slept at a very fancy hotel after their wild night of partying and had then gone out to eat an amazing breakfast the next morning.

Everyone had fun and Alfred was in a very good mood.

He was smiling as he thought about the fact he was going to be wed in less than two weeks.

He was impatient to see his fiancé, whom he had missed very much. He also wanted to know how his party had been.

He thanked his brother Septimus for the ride back home, kissed Mina’s cheek and told her to rest for the rest of the afternoon and said he would cook dinner for all of them tonight. He then rubbed her baby bump to say hi to his nephew before he ran up to his door, unlocked it and entered his flat.

As soon as Princess saw her papa, she barked happily and jumped against his leg until he grabbed her.

He chuckled as she licked his cheek and he then went to look for his fiancé, who seemed to be nowhere to be found.

He knocked on their bedroom door, guessing Edward might be reading in there and was surprised to see the curtains were still closed.

Only a very faint light was on and Alfred knew at once something was wrong.

Edward was sitting on their bed, but he wasn’t reading: he had his arms crossed and was scowling.  Both of their phones were close to him on the mattress.

Hum…

Alfred quirked an eyebrow at his boyfriend as Princess too seemed to wonder what was going on. ‟Edward, darling, are you alright?”

Edward gave him a dark look. ‟What do you think?” By the tone of his voice, it was clear he wasn’t.  

Alfred made an annoyed noise with his tongue and sat down next to him. ‟I knew this was a bad idea.”

There was a pause as Edward handed his phone to Alfred, who placed Princess down next to him on the bed and scrolled through the pictures. ‟A bad idea is an understatement. Alfred, I know he’s your ex. George showed me old pictures of you two together and he told me all about him.”

Okay, Edward wasn’t entirely telling the truth right now. George had indeed showed him one picture, but since he had investigated Alfred’s box on his own too, he had found more pictures of the two of them and it hurt.

‟That’s exactly what he is: my ex. Just like Brandon.” Alfred smiled contritely at him, but Edward was too far gone and had too much on his heart to stop right there; something he would regret very soon.

He groaned and avoided Alfred’s stare as Princess began to shuffle nervously on the mattress. ‟Who’s Alex Dimitrioff and why is he texting you so much?”

‟You checked my phone too? Good thing I don’t have anything to hide, right?” Alfred exhaled loudly and tried to remain calm. Edward being jealous was cute to an extent, honestly. ‟I guess your party sucked and you needed to find some ways to distract yourself?”

‟At least I wasn’t ogling half naked men during mine or had my ex rub himself all over me be-”

‟Really Edward?” Alfred sighed as he placed Edward’s phone back on the bed. ‟I guess I’ll let you rest for a while. Seems to me you are not feeling well. Have you drunk too much perhaps? Septimus is good with that.”

Edward shook his head and clenched his jaw. ‟You’ve not answered my question. Who’s Alex?”

Alfred shrugged as he began to toy with their duvet. ‟Riley’s roommate. I don’t care about him. I’m just being nice to him so Riley gets to spend some time with George.”

‟It looks to me as though you are flirting with him.” Edward paused before he went on.  ‟You flirt with everyone all the time anyway.”

Gosh, he shouldn’t have said that. He regretted those words the second he said them.

Alfred got up and seemed to be on his way to being pissed too. His cheeks were red and his voice was a little shakier than usual. ‟I am not flirting with anyone. I’m just going to-” He paused as he bent down and picked Harry, his old doll, from under a pillow. It seemed George had forgotten to put him back where he belonged or was it him? ‟ What is Harry doing here? Did you really look through my stuff?”

Edward shrugged. ‟George did. For someone who says he’s not hiding things, you are pretty defensive.”

Alfred shook his head and took a deep breath. ‟ You’ve been attacking me since I’ve crossed the threshold of our room. Am I asking you where you are when you are missing at night and what you are doing?”

Edward frowned at him. ‟That’s not the same.”

‟It is the same. It’s called trust and it seems you don’t trust me Edward Drummond.” Alfred was fuming by now. ‟What’s gotten into you? I thought you’d be happy to see me. I know I was before you began to attack me with your accusations.”

‟Attack you? Are you out of your mind. It’s hard to trust you with all those messages and those pictures going around. Plus, you’ve been sneaking baby clothes in here when I’ve already been c-”

‟YOU DID LOOK THROUGH MY BOX THEN.” Alfred breathed in and out a couple of times to calm himself. ‟If I want to buy baby clothes, I’ll buy baby clothes, is that clear?”

‟I DID AND IF THAT WASN’T CLEAR ENOUGH THE FIRST TIME AROUND, ALFRED PAGET, THERE WON’T BE ANY BABY HERE EXCEPT FOR YOUR NEPHEW, SO YOU CAN GET THAT IDEA OUT OF YOUR THICK BRAIN RIGHT NOW.”

Alfred gasped loudly as Princess jumped down from the bed and ran out of the room.

Edward gaped as Alfred stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

What exactly had he done?

***

Baby bro at 3.14:

**Thank you Gege for looking through my stuff and feeding Edward’s jealousy by showing him pictures from last night. Where did you get those? Was it Mama who sent them to you?**

Gege P. at 3.17:

**I did look through your box, but I’ve not sent those pictures. Are you crazy!? What’s going on?**

**I could hear you two yell at each other from over here.**

Baby bro at 3.20:

**Well I’m going upstairs so you won’t hear anymore yelling.**

Gege P. at 3.23:

**The fuck???**

***

After being upstairs at Mina and Septimus’s place where he cried his life for two hours straight, Alfred had finally gone back downstairs to talk things out with his stupid boyfriend.

Edward was feeling bad about their argument and blamed his headache and his foolishness for it.

The two managed to talk and patch things up and it seemed everything was going to be fine, but it wasn’t.

Alfred seemed a bit distant as they ate dinner with Septimus and Mina. The ambiance was weird, and everyone ate in an amiable silence.

Edward, still feeling bad, had even done the dishes without being asked to and had started the laundry while Alfred had gone out for a walk with Princess to unwind.  

He was still pouting a bit when he got back, and he decided to head to bed early.

On the contrary, Edward was now feeling better and his headache had subsided.

He decided to take his shower while Alfred settled into bed.

Their arguments habitually ended with amazing sex and Edward was kind of looking forward to it.

He had been a bit ridiculous.

In fact, he had been a complete idiot once more.

He simply had overreacted, something he often did when his boyfriend was concerned, and he couldn’t wait for Alfred to stop pouting and feel better which was exactly what their making out would do.

Alfred was curled up on his right side and was facing the wall as Edward left the restroom, not even bothering to put his pj on.

What was the purpose of it anyway since he would probably need to take it off literally five minutes after he would slip into bed?

He closed the light and snuggled against Alfred, who surprisingly didn’t react to his touch.

He cleared his throat. ‟Alfred, are you still mad a me?”

A beat.

‟No.”

Hum, that did not sound very convincing.

‟Are you sure?”

‟Yes.”

Edward flipped his boyfriend over in order to kiss him properly, but Alfred remained distant and cold.

He then tried to tickle him and to kiss him at the base of his neck, something that usually was a big turn on, but Alfred was having none of it.

He swatted his boyfriend’s hands away and rolled back on to his side.

‟Stop it. I have a headache.”

Edward waggled his eyebrows. ‟Nothing I can’t fix. I can do all the work, if you want…”

A sigh. ‟Good night Edward.”

Well, that was new...

Alfred not wanting them to have sex even after an argument was unheard of.

 Maybe things would be better in the morning?

As Alfred quickly drifted off to sleep, Edward’s brain began to over-analyze everything once more as George’s words came back to haunt him.

_One day, Alf had decided he had had enough of Dario and had said he had grown out of love for him._

What if he had caused just that?

Nah, he was being ridiculous once more…

Or was he?

***

Three days later, Alfred was still under the weather and everyone was getting worried.

Especially Mina, which wasn’t good at all.

At 25 weeks pregnant, she was already having some contractions which wasn’t normal at all.

Edward really seemed to be freaking out around Alfred and literally was tiptoeing around the house all the time.

He had tried to bring the baby topic back on the table, but Alfred had brushed it off every time by saying he did not care about it.

Which really sounded like a lie.

They had barely kissed since their argument, and those kisses were very tame and cold compared to the ones they usually exchanged beforehand. Alfred had also slept on his side of the bed for the last four nights and had stated he had a headache every night, which was even more bizarre.

When George came back from work on Wednesday night, he knew things had taken a turn for the worst.

Princess wasn’t running around the backyard like she usually did at this hour and the AC was off upstairs, which was odd since even though it was now passed mid-November and it was getting extremely cold outside, Mina was always feeling hot due to her high hormone levels.

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and his suspicions were confirmed at once as he read his brother Septimus’s text:

**I’m leaving with Alf+Mina. Drums will be a mess. Alf left him a note saying he’s calling it quits. Tell Drums it’s pre-wedding jitters or something.**

**I’ll keep you posted.**

George cursed loudly. Shit had literally hit the fan barely a week before the wedding day…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, commenting and leaving kudos! Xxx


	16. The end of the world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is Drumfred really a thing of the past?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to @Sheofthebookandsong who really wanted the boys to get back together and the sooner the better Xxx

What was George supposed to reply to Septimus, honestly?

_‘No big deal.'?_

_‘Right, I’m sure Drums will be thrilled.’?_

_‘Big mood.’?_

He decided not to send any reply in the end.

Truth be told, he was beginning to panic: BIG TIME.

He really wasn’t good in dealing with emotional situations.

Not one bit.

His brother Clarence would know exactly what to do in this case, but of course, he wasn’t here.

Where was he when he was needed?

In flipping Italy until  next Thursday. That was where he was…

George could still call Richard or Jr, but those two weren’t the most helpful either.

William was probably busy doing science somewhere. Maybe if he tried to call him, the latter would come and help him?

Of course, he only managed to reach his brother’s voicemail. After he left the latter a cryptic message in which he might have stated someone had died, he cursed loudly.

He then crossed the backyard  that linked his house to his brothers’ place.

It seemed he would need to deal with this crisis all by himself.

It was imperative, he needed to do something, or else, he was sure Edward would die of a heartbreak upon reading Alfred’s note.

Plus, he wasn’t sure he knew how to revive someone who had fainted, which did not bode well.

The sooner he would get inside that house, the better.

Luckily for him, it seemed his future brother-in-law wasn’t home yet, which would leave him some time to figure out what he should  do after he would have destroyed  Alfred’s dramatic letter.

Of course, the bloody front door of the house was locked.

And it was the same upstairs.

How come everyone was being so safe and careful all of a sudden?

As he was standing there, wondering what he should do next, he was struck by a brilliant idea.

 Drums had once sneaked in by his bedroom window,  so why didn’t he try to do the same?

Sadly, it proved to be easier said than done, and he finally ended up smashing said window instead.

Broken glass was still less expensive than a funeral.

It was a good thing Princess wasn’t here either, because she would probably be traumatized by now.

He looked around the room and was surprised to see how suspiciously clean the whole place was.

No doubt his baby brother had been on a cleaning spree for the last few days, which probably had been triggered by his internal  freaking out.

But now wasn’t the time to focus on  how clean the place was.

He was on a mission after all.

He frowned. Where could that damn letter be?

Clearly, it wasn’t in the bedroom.

He sighed, and walked up to the kitchen just as Edward was unlocking the front door and getting inside.

 _FUCK_ , he thought at once.

Edward was holding a bouquet in one hand and a grocery bag in the other, which meant he had known something was up with Alfred.  Buying flowers was the number one thing he did when he was feeling guilty.

Edward nodded in his direction. “Hey George.”

‟Drums.”

 _Just stay calm and don’t freak him out_ , thought George as he tried to look casual. He leaned against the wall and stared at a frame.

A very gay frame at that.

 It was a painting his brother had done a while ago and there was too many pink in it.

_Stay focused George._

There was a  pause as Edward seemed to wonder what he was doing here and where were Alfred and Princess.

His future brother-in-law looked around the room and frowned. ‟Where’s Alf?”

He shrugged. ‟He’s gone at my parents’.”

‟How come? “

‟Look, you better sit down.” He began to nervously scratch his hair and damn,  Jr was right:he clearly could feel he had less hair on the back of his head.

Edward, ever the good boy, or maybe because he was used to having Alfred, who had been bossy since the day he was born, order him around, did as he was told.

As he pulled a chair and sat down on it, they both heard a crumpling sound.

George’s heart literally stopped beating as Edward pulled a crumpled piece of paper out from underneath him.

Of course, he began to read it at once while George was internally freaking out.

Edward frowned seconds after he had  begun his reading. “Alfred is leaving me?” His voice was  unsteady and higher than usual.

 _FUCK, FUCK, FUCK and FUCK_ , thought George as a drop of sweat rolled down his back.

***

Meanwhile, a good 200 miles away from Callington, Septimus was driving his car on the highway while Mina was next to him in the passenger seat and his youngest brother was sitting in the back with his puppy, who was sleeping in her transport crate.

Everyone had remained silent since they had left town.

Alfred was way too deep in gloomy thoughts to chat and Mina was secretly experiencing some back pains once more.

They were about an hour away from Plas Newydd, their parents’place, when Alfred began to fidget with his seat belt.

Mina stared at her best friend in the rear-view mirror and knew at once something was wrong with him.

Alfred, who had always been pale in coloring, was now as white as a sheet.

She nudged her boyfriend, just as Alfred took a shaky breath.

“Septimus, stop the car. I think I’m about to throw up.” Said the latter as panic washed over him.

What had he done?

Septimus pulled up on the side of the road and Alfred rushed outside at once.

He sat on the grass and waited to throw up or to faint…

But nothing happened.

He was feeling as though his heart had been ripped out of his chest and it wasn’t that far out from the truth.

The last four days had been horrible.

Edward had tiptoed around him the whole time and had seemed to be wondering what was going on, but Alfred couldn’t bring himself to say anything to him, as he had kept pondering the pros and the cons of their upcoming wedding.

Yes, Alfred loved Edward.

He loved him with all of his heart,  but since his previous relationship with Benjamin, who had been very jealous and controlling―and even violent on some occasions―he was scared of been trapped in another unhealthy relationship.

Edward wasn’t Benjamin, but some things he did reminded him of the latter and it wasn’t for the best.

Or was he over-analyzing things once more?

Alfred had barely slept for the last few days as he had wondered what he should do and if he should talk about his inner conflict to his boyfriend.

But he had done none of that.

He tried to breathe as both Mina and Septimus were staring at him with concern― or was it pity?

He did not care at this point.

Then he had also thought about the whole baby thing.

He had been honest about it since their relationship’s early days. Barely three months after he and Edward had started dating, he was pretty sure he had told Edward he wanted a family and the sooner the better.

If he remembered correctly, Edward had not seem on board with that idea from the start and had told him so on various occasions.

He had thought he might have changed his boyfriend’s mind on the subject, but Edward had made it very clear it wasn’t the case.

Patience wasn’t one of Alfred’s strong points and with baby Paget’s arrival coming up soon, he was sure his desire to have a family of his own would only get stronger.

Could he really say no to something he had always wanted?

Maybe Edward wasn’t the right one for him after all…

If that was the case, he had done the right thing: calling it quits before they were married.

But he loved Edward…

He felt a sharp pain in his stomach and bent over.

Why was life so complicated?

***

Or course, as soon as Edward had read the letter,  his face had crumpled and his breath had caught up in his throat.

The room had spinned in front of his eyes and George was certain Edward was about to pass out.

He forced the latter to sit down and began to rant about everything and anything to distract him, but Edward wasn’t reacting to anything he was saying.

It was horrible.

For once, George wasn’t feeling in control at all and he was terrorized.

He laughed awkwardly in a desperate attempt to lighten the mood. “Don’t worry, Alfred’s probably just having pre-wedding jitters or something like that.”

There was a pause before George kept on talking, seeing he wasn’t getting a response from Edward.

“Just wait here while I go and get something.” George tried to flash him a reassuring smile, but he could as well have been talking to a wall. Edward was still staring blankly at him. ‟ You’ll see, Alfred will be here in no time.”

George glanced over his shoulder as he ran out of the room, pulled his phone out and desperately tried to reach his mother with it.

His mama would know what to do. She always did.

***

Alfred couldn’t say how long he stayed there on the side of the road, stuck in between wanting to throw up and to scream, but finally, finally, after a while, the giant mess that had been his mind for the last few days finally settled back to right.

And he now knew what he needed to do.

It was as if a huge weight had been lifted from his chest as he stood up and stared back at his brother and at Mina.

“I think I’ve just made a horrible mistake.” Alfred shook his head in disbelief. “The biggest mistake I’ve ever done in my life. Do you think I am an idiot?”

Both Mina and Septimus stared at each other and then sighed and stared back at him. “YOU ARE AN IDIOT.”They said in unison and Alfred wanted to laugh at his own stupidity.

That is until he realized that maybe Edward had already read his letter and could be gone by now.

He glanced at his watch, saw there still was a good chance his boyfriend had not been home yet, pulled his phone out from his back pocket and dialed as fast as he could the phone number he knew by heart.

He groaned with annoyance as he saw after the third call his boyfriend still hadn’t answered him. “Why is he not picking up  his bloody phone?”

Panic began to seize him once more.

What if Edward had already read his stupid letter and had decided he had had enough of him?

Septimus sighed and waved at him. “Stop being dramatic and hop in so we can go and find your man before it’s too late.”

But Alfred was once more trying to reach his Edward, his phone glued to his ear as he began to pace on the side of the road.

What if indeed it was too late?

Mina sighed deeply and closed her eyes. “Alfred, you neurotic mess, will you please come and sit down? I’m having pains right now.”

She closed her eyes and leaned her head against her headrest as she tried to breathe.

Were those really contractions she was experiencing?

Alfred quickly walked up to her and gave her a quick hug before he jumped back into the car. ‟No way, baby Paget! You need to stay put for another 9 weeks, at least, before you show up.”

Septimus stared at his girlfriend with concern as he turned the key into the ignition.  “I don’t like that at all. Do you want me to call an ambulance?”

She flashed him a reassuring smile. “Let’s go back home instead. The sooner Alfred will be reunited with Edward, the sooner I will be able to relax and make sure this baby stays where it’s supposed to be.”

***

George was sure he was cursed. Even his mother, who usually never failed to answer her phone, was unreachable.

It was safe to say he was in full panic mode at this point.

What could he do to calm Drums? Watch politic on TV? Listen to a boring podcast? Fix him a chicken soup or the like?

He was searching through his junk to find a boring looking book to read or something when someone knocked on his door twice.

He groaned loudly, because now was not the time to distract him from his task.

His future brother-in-law literally was on the verge of crumbling into dust next door and he needed to step up.

When a third knock could be heard at the door, he ran up to it and was about to tell the annoying knocker to go see if he was somewhere else, when he fell face to face with…Riley Kelly.

He gasped as she flipped her hair and quirked an eyebrow at him. She was wearing a  leather coat and a skinny jeans with high heeled boots. She looked incredibly beautiful and also very annoyed.

“Paget, where’s Alfred? I’ve knocked at his place and no one is answering. “

George shrugged. “I really don’t know where he is. And I really don’t have the time to talk to you right now. I really really need to focus.”

He shook his head. Riley Kelly, the girl he had been trying to ask on a date for the last three months, was standing at his front door and he had no time to waste.

Karma clearly had a thing against him.

“I see how it is. Nice to know you are just like the others.” She rolled her eyes and bit her lip as she turned around.

 He delicately grasped her arm.

‟What do you mean?”

‟You’ve missed my class last week and Alfred did not show up to his Zumba class either yesterday.” She freed her arm from his grasp and crossed her arms on her chest.‟ I should have known me mentioning my infertility would make you run like the others.”

He stared at her with disbelief.‟What?! Your infertility has nothing to do with this. I’m dealing with a severe crisis right now.”

For once, she stared back directly at him, as if she cared.‟What’s wrong?”

‟My baby brother and his fiancé are killing me.” He shook his head and sighed once more, as she pushed him out of the way and entered in his house.

***

Edward was feeling like a zombie as he left his house and began to walk back and forth aimlessly on the side of the road.

 All he knew was that walking seemed to make him feel alive a little.

His brain was foggy and his heart was broken.

What would he do without Alfred?

Why would Alfred leave him in the first place?

Why did he say all those things?

He wasn’t opposed to them having a baby at one point, but he wasn’t ready for that type of commitment just yet.

All he wanted was Alfred to himself for a while.

Couldn’t they spend some time alone together without a crying baby on their hands?

Was it too much to ask?

It seemed it was. As he remembered Alfred was gone, his heart broke down once more.

He could see George and Riley were staring at him with concern from the porch, but he kept on walking anyway.

It was the fourth or tenth time he was walking from his house to the center of the town, when he bumped into someone.

That someone sneered at him. “Well, look who iz here: if it’s not Edward Drummond, all desperate and alone...”

Edward clenched his jaw. “Leclerc!”

The Frenchman looked at Edward condescendingly.

He had an ugly smile plastered on his face and he seemed absolutely pleased with himself

“Seems to me I now have all the chances in the world to get Alfred Paget for myself. I hope you liked all the pictures I’ve sent you earlier this week? I knew keeping that emergency list they gave us at Worthington would turn out useful at one point.”

Edward groaned at the other man.‟It’s you I need to thank for all this mess then?”

He was feeling so much loathing for Leclerc that he curled his hand into a fist as he stared darkly back at him.

***

The ride back home had been a silent one too. Septimus had driven faster than usual and he seemed tensed as he kept staring at Mina.

Alfred’s phone had run out of battery in the middle of the ride and he now was scared to know if Edward had read his letter.

What if they arrived too late and he had already left?

The only good thing was that Mina’s pains had subsided, which meant she wasn’t going to go into labor soon.

They had almost reached their home and were rolling on the main street, when Mina pointed out someone who was standing on the sidewalk in the distance.

Alfred looked by his window and his heart began to beat faster at once.‟Septimus, stop right there. I can see him!” he exclaimed as relief washed over him. His boyfriend hadn’t left forever and he would finally be able to put everything to right.

Septimus stopped the car and frowned.‟Wait, who is talking with Drums?”

There was a tense silence in the car as both Mina and Alfred recognized the other man...

It was Vincent Leclerc.

***

Leclerc was towering over him and Edward was now sure he would hit him if the other man  made another step towards him.

The tension between the two was palpable.

In fact, it seemed a fight was inevitable, but who would hit first?

Leclerc was taller and stronger than Edward, but he was desperate.

Now was not the time to mess with him.

‟Alfred will never be yours Leclerc and you better understand it now, or else...”

Leclerc smirked at him and it really seemed he was about to hit him now, when another man stood in between them and hit Leclerc squarely in the face first.

The taller man, shocked, staggered from the strength of the blow.

“LEAVE MY FIANCÉ ALONE, LECLERC,”exclaimed the mysterious assailant, as Riley and George ran up to the scene.

Leclerc’s nose was profusely bleeding as Alfred stood there and seemed slightly surprised by what he had just achieved.

 Riley whistled. “Wow, that was an impressive uppercut. “

She smirked as George nodded.“Guess your classes really paid off Riley. Plumpy used to be such a wimp...”

Edward  stood there, dumbfounded, as Leclerc was cursing in French in the background.

Was Alfred really here, standing  a mere meter away from him?

It really looked like him…

His hero slowly turned around to face him. He had tears in his eyes.

“Edward, I’m so sorry…I’m such an idiot” Alfred began unassuredly. ‟Do you still want to marry me?”

It seemed Edward could finally breathe now. “Only if you promise me you’ll only be mine, always.”

Leclerc groaned and cursed some more as he stared darkly at both Edward and Alfred who were now exchanging intense heart eyes. 

“I’ll press charge,” he said menacingly as Septimus, who had just parked his car, walked up to him.

“Oh, please do. ”He held his hand out to the Frenchman. ‟Septimus Paget, Alfred and Edward’s lawyer. I’ll be delighted to see you in court.”

Leclerc cursed some more as he backed off and left the scene, leaving a trail of blood on the ground behind him. 

As  Edward and Alfred were kissing  and crying like the big gay messes they really were  and weren’t aware of the world surounding them anymore, Riley smirked and leaned against George.

“Guess you’ll still have a wedding to attend next weekend Paget.”

‟You know what Riley? I think I might have been wrong for once and that is a very rare occurrence…”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ERFWCVREVSD THE WEDDING IS FINALLY HAPPENING IN THE NEXT CHAPTER (well part 1 of it, because THIS IS GOING TO BE THE FLUFFIEST WEDDING EVER)!!!!


	17. I will be his and he will be mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PART 1 OF THE BIG GAY WEDDING!!!! :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I go...The poem I have modified for the vows is from Pablo Neruda :D

Bae at 9.25 :

**Alright, I am heading to bed.**

**Next time we will talk/see each other, it will be in front of the altar.**

**I can already feel butterflies in my stomach and some tears pooling in my eyes :S**

Edward D. at 9.26 :

**Me too.**

**I think George was right all along : we really are sappy gays.**

Bae at 9.27 :

**Well, I can’t wait for us to be sappy gay husbands then.**

**Hum…my godson is kicking me in utero while Mina is trying to take my phone away from me.**

**I guess it means I should stop texting you and go to sleep.**

**See you tomorrow, my soon to be ex-fiancé Xxxxxxxxx**

*******

‟Nope, I can’t close that damn zipper. I really can’t. ” Wilhelmina sighed loudly with annoyance as she sat back down on Charlotte and Henry’s bed.

The two had lent her their bedroom, which had a restroom adjoined to it so she could get ready in peace for the big gay wedding, while all of their sons―minus Alfred― were fighting for the other two restrooms of the house.

Carrying the Paget’s first grandchild was giving her some privilege…

However, at seven months pregnant, she had never thought she would ever get _that_ big.

Her baby bump had literally tripled in size in the last month alone and she was already done with the whole pregnancy thing.

Not that the prospect of giving birth was appealing to her in any way…

Holding her newborn son in her arms was another thing though.

She couldn’t wait for that milestone and she was really looking forward to their first meeting.

What would her son look like? Would he have the Paget’s natural good looks? Would he have blue eyes or brown ones? What about his hair? Would he be blond? Would he-

‟Do you know your baby is now the size of a lettuce?” Jr yelled from the corridor, which made her snap out of her reverie.

She rolled her eyes. ‟Thank you, Jr. ” she called back as Septimus walked into the room.

He was already wearing his suit and he looked very handsome, as always.

In two steps, he was at her side.

‟You look amazing.” He whispered softly as he gave her a sweet kiss on the head. ‟Do you want me to try to zip up your dress? You could still wear something else if I fail...I’m sure Alf won’t mind it.”

She shrugged as she got up and stared at herself in the mirror.

Her hair was sophistically tied in a bun and it looked very good paired up with the beautiful navy blue dress with a boat neck that Alfred had picked out for her.

She was his best woman after all and she was extremely proud about it.

‟She can wear something else if you want to unleash groomzilla!” George Paget snarkily replied as he too walked into the room.

He was wearing a very simple black suit with a white shirt and said shirt seemed to be in dire need of being ironed.

Charlotte would probably fret upon seeing how messy her son was dressed. She had been busy with her youngest all day and had literally had no time to spare for her six other sons, who clearly seemed lost without her guidance.

Mina sighed as Septimus frowned and pulled at the back of her dress. It really seemed like a lost cause. ‟Alfred is not that bad. You are just pissed because your mum made you pay for that window you broke last week Gege.”

George shook his head vehemently. ‟No ,no, no, no, no, you’ve got this all wrong Wils! I’ve willingly paid for that window to be replaced because I was tired of hearing Mr. Snuggles and Angel Baby sharing confessions and going at it from my side of the yard all day every flipping day since they’ve made up.”

‟This is why you need some AC.” Chimed in Jr as he too joined them in the room and sat down on his parents’ bed.

Both George and Septimus sighed loudly upon seeing him.

Junior still wasn’t anyone’s favorite.

‟Alfred is literally on the verge of a mental breakdown. There is no way I’m going to add more stress on his shoulders because I’m now whale sized.”

‟What can he be stressing so much about? Doesn’t he love Drums?” asked Clarence Paget, the perfect image of elegance with his highly fashionable new tux, as he leaned against the door frame of his parents’ room. ‟I can alter that dress in an instant if you need me to Mina.”

George groaned. ‟Clarence Paget, showing off once more about his legendary sewing abilities...”

Clarence shrugged. ‟It’s not my fault if I am a renowned designer in Italy by now…”

Septimus was about to say something when he finally succeeded in closing his girlfriend’s dress.

Mina seemed extremely relieved by this and the two exchanged a kiss while George flipped his middle finger at Clarence, who pulled his tongue out at him.

Junior stared at both of his brothers and wondered if he should go and get their mom right now before things turned too ugly and someone ripped his best suit, when Alfred barged into the room.

He seemed extremely stressed out and anxious, which was quite unusual.

‟Is there something wrong with my hair?” Alfred asked to no one in particular as he looked at himself critically in the mirror and frowned. ‟There is something wrong with my hair.”

Of course, there wasn’t anything wrong with his hair and everyone gaped at him.

He looked dapper than usual.

He was wearing a nice and very fitted grey suit with a light blue shirt and a dark grey vest on top of it. He also had the tie Clarence had sent him earlier this year: the dark blue one with floral embroideries on it and his father’s silver watch was glinting on his left wrist.

He really was a sight to behold.

Mina gasped loudly. ‟OMG ALF, DRUMS IS GOING TO FAINT. YOU LOOK INCREDIBLE.”

George shook his head. ‟Except for the tie. I hate that tie.”

‟You’ve never had any taste in clothing in your whole life Gege.” Clarence replied as Alfred continued to fuss in front of the mirror.

It was going to be a long day.

***

Edward was surprisingly calm as he was finishing to get ready.

He had managed to carefully comb his rebellious curls,which had not been an easy task, but he was still struggling with his tie.

It was usually Alfred who was tying it every morning now and it seemed he couldn’t remember how he had managed to do so before he had him in his life.

 _Oh yes_ , he had a mother who genuinely cared for him at that time.

But now was not the time to think about her.

The two had not spoken to each other since that wretched meeting at the café.

He had tried to call her on three various occasions since his arrival at the Pagets’ home, two days prior to the wedding, but she had never picked the line.

He guessed she wouldn’t come to his own wedding, even though he was her only son, which was her loss and not his after all...

Or so he was trying to convince himself.

He was wearing a black suit with a dark red vest underneath it and a matching tie. His boutonnière was a single cream rose with some leafy accents, which seemed chic and manly at the same time.

He frowned as he studied himself in the mirror and tried to redo that damn tie knot for the fifteenth time already.                        

He was cursing profusely and was really beginning to loose his cool when Charlotte Paget, a gorgeous smile plastered on her lovely face, timidly entered the room.

She stared at him longly and he could see she seemed moved as she did so.

She sniffed once and he too was starting to feel a bit emotional, before she changed the mood by talking to him.

‟You look incredible Edward. This suit is perfect for you. We did good in picking this one out for you.” She patted his cheek. ‟ Do you want my help with anything? Your tie, maybe?”

He nodded as she rapidly tied his tie with expert fingers.

After all, Charlotte had seven sons and a husband: she probably could tie ties with her eyes closed and with one hand behind her back at this point.

‟Thank you Charlie for all of your kindness and for your help with the wedding planning.” He smiled at her. ‟I am sorry my mother hasn’t replied to your kind invitation.”

‟You are not responsible for your mother’s actions Edward.” She smiled. ‟And it is my pleasure. Henry and I are so pleased to be getting an eight son and we mean it.”

He smiled at her and she hugged him.

Charlotte Paget really was an amazing woman.

***

Edward had arrived in Scotland at the Loch Awe boathouse an hour later than expected, which meant he was really panicking at this point.

His wedding was supposed to start at 14.00, yet Alfred had still not arrived.

Not all of their guests were there too…

Not that they were expecting a lot of guests for the ceremony in itself.

Everyone would be at the wedding reception which would be held later on this evening, but he had somehow managed to convince Alfred to keep the ceremony a family only affair, which meant there literally would only be three guests who would sit on his side if his mother ever showed up at all.

There was a heavy snowstorm outside, which might explain all of the delays they were experiencing.

Mina and some of his future brothers-in-law were busy adding some of the finishing touches anyway.

The boathouse definitely was the perfect location for their cozy-chic themed wedding.

A fire was roaring behind their makeshift altar, since the ceremony wouldn’t be religious at all, and the lights were dimmed in the room.

The faint rays of the sun that were managing to pierce through the thick clouds were lighting the room with a faint golden glow.

George, Richard and Clarence had manage to set up mini string lights along their make shift aisle, which added to the coziness of the room.

Old looking wooden chairs were placed on either side of the altar and Mina had placed two dozen cream roses here and there along the way.

A small bouquet was placed on top of the altar too.

They had flowers and were in that way respecting traditions, but there weren't too much of those either.

Edward did not want his wedding to be _too gay_ after all; something to which Mina had rolled her eyes so much she was beginning to have a headache.

William was already at his place, a book open on his lap, while Richard, who was sitting two chairs from him, was cursing with his camera in hand.

He had agreed to film the ceremony and to be the official wedding photographer afterwards  and Jr kept poking him in the ribs to give him some advices about how he should do his job and it clearly was getting on his nerves, which wasn’t hard to do in the first place.

Richard really had a nasty temper...

Edward glanced at his watch and wondered if Alfred would be on time for once, when someone walked up to him and cleared their throat loudly.

He looked up just in time to see his aunt Danielle smile at him and pull him close for a big hug. His cousin was trailing behind her and was staring around the room.

‟Thank you for inviting us Edward.” His aunt blinked twice.‟ So, you are gay?”

His cousin, Jeremy, elbowed her in the ribs and said a ‟moooooooooom” in between gritted teeth.

Edward frowned.‟Ehm, yes aunt Danielle.”

A pause.

‟I’m glad you've invited me then. I’ve never been to a gay wedding before. It all sounds so exotic...”

Edward sighed and flashed her an awkward smile as his cousin facepalmed, shook his head and dragged his mother to her chair. He heard her say loudly that she had never seen so many good looking blond men in the same room when the alarm on his watch went on.

Their wedding was officially running late.

It really seemed his mother wouldn’t be there after all and he thought he was being silly to still be thinking about this right now.

He looked around the room once more.

His aunt was taking pictures of everything with her phone while all of the Paget brothers along with Mina were at their place and were waiting for the ceremony to begin.

They were only missing Charlotte, Henry, Alfred and Cassandra, their celebrant, at this point and he literally was in full panic mode right now.

He sat down and tried to breathe in order to calm down when a man he had never seen before walked into the boathouse and flashed everyone a warm smile.

George got up and walked up to him as the latter was brushing some snow off of his coat.

‟I don’t want to be rude, but who are you?”

‟My name is James. The chosen celebrant for this wedding called me because she was stuck in traffic somewhere in Cornwall due to the snowstorm and she won’t be able to get here on time. ” He smiled. ‟Don’t worry though, everything will be fine. Are we only missing the bride?”

George quirked an eyebrow at the other man. ‟Well, we are going to wait a long time then because there is no bride sir. This is a gay wedding.”

‟OH RIGHT. Hey, I was just joking.” Jame awkwardly cleared his throat. ‟I think I’m just going to get ready for the ceremony and all that jazz; you know…”

George and Edward stared at each other. Hum….

***

‟Everything will be fine, my baby boy. You are holding up extremely well!I’ll go and announce we are ready to get things going.” Charlotte said before she gave her son a quick kiss and a tight hug.

She then left the small room, closed the door behind her and walked up to the main room of the boathouse.

Alfred watched her leave and exhaled loudly. On the other side of the door, Edward was waiting for him.

He was shaking with anticipation as he heard his mother say loudly he was here and was ready to go.

He could do this.

He took one last deep breath as he turned around to face his dad, who was supposed to walk him down the aisle.

‟Alright dad, it’s our time to- Papa, really?”

‟I’m sorry Alfred. I can’t help it. I’m so proud of you.”

Henry, submerged by emotions, dabbed his eyes as Alfred leaned against him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Father and son finally linked arms and shared a look as they heard Jr say ‟Wasn’t Alf supposed to walk in soon?”on the other side of the door.

As if on cue, an instrumental version of a Queen song began to play loudly.

Edward would probably cringe at the whole gayness of it, but it was absolutely worth it.

Then, it was all a blur as Henry, looking extremely proud and on the verge of crying once more, walked down the aisle with his son.  

Edward, who was standing close to the altar, literally lost it upon seeing the love of his life looking so handsome and happy tears rolled down his cheeks.

Of course, Alfred couldn’t hold up either anymore and began to cry and grin too at the same time as he finally managed to walk up to his other half.

Even Richard was unsubtly crying at that moment, which meant a lot.

The celebrant cleared his throat as Edward wiped his tears and his heart began to beat loudly.‟ We might be a small group, but let it be said we can cry as much as a full room.” Everyone laughed upon hearing this, even Alfred and Edward, who seemed to have eyes only for each other. ‟My name is James Cunnigham and I’m proud to say I am going to be the celebrant of this cozy little wedding we are celebrating today.”

What James said for the next fifteen minutes, Alfred had absolutely no clue. All he knew was that Edward looked handsomer than ever and that he wanted to kiss him and to hold him in his arms right now and forever and that soon they would be legally wed and that it was too much to process all at once.

Then, James stared at him intently and he figured it was time to read his vows or something.

He should really be paying more attention to his own wedding, he thought, as he turned around and faced his family and Edward’s.

He saw at once Frances wasn’t there, which was sad but not unexpected.

‟Gosh I don’t think I’ll manage to do this without ugly crying once more, but I swear I am trying.”Alfred dabbed his eyes once more with the silk handkerchief Clarence had brought him back from Italy. ‟So, everyone here knows I have a thing for poems and I’ve picked one just for you as my wedding vows, Edward, my darling, because of course I am going to love you and to cherish you in richness and in poor ―just look at us now, it won’t be hard to get richer―, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health until death do us part, but I thought a poem would be cuter.”

A lot of folks cooed and Richard quirked an eyebrow at George who seemed to be sniffing an awful lot.

Alfred cleared his throat. His voice was shaky and he clearly seemed on the verge of crying once more as he began to recite the poem he knew by heart.

‟I love you Edward Drummond, without knowing how or when, or from where. I love you without any complexities. I love you because I know no other way than this : where I does not exist, nor you, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep. I vow to love you forever and always, my love, and nothing, you hear me, nothing will keep us apart ever again.”

Edward seemed submerged by emotions once more as he gaped at Alfred.

Others were sniffing loudly and Richard, who was filming the whole thing seemed kind of touched too.

James beamed at everyone.‟Wow, this was very emotional. Now, it’s your turn, Edward, to read your vows. ”

Edward grinned as he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket.  

‟Excuse me, but I don’t have a terrific memory like my future hubby. I’ve written the whole thing down... ”

He cleared his throat and was about to begin to read his page when a tiny knock could be heard on the back door of the boathouse.

There was a confused silence as Frances Drummond entered the room with a strong burst of wind and some snowflakes in tow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dum dum duuuuuuum...  
> Kudos and comments mean LIFE!


	18. Mr & Mr

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedding part 2 :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here I go with the rest of the wedding and an Epilogue for this fic, which means you get two chapters in one day…:D Enjoy!

Everyone remained silent as Frances walked up to her sister Danielle’s chair and sat down next to her.

George and Clarence frowned in her direction and Edward moved closer to Alfred upon seeing her.

He clearly wasn’t sure his mother wasn’t here solely to ruin his wedding day.

Charlotte smiled tentatively in Frances direction, but she resolutely turned her head away and faced the other direction.

James, the celebrant, shrugged and gestured to Edward to go on with the reading of his vows.

The latter cleared his throat and nervously began to toy with his piece of paper.

‟As everyone here now knows, I’m not very gifted with words. I’m sorry Alf, but except you, no one likes my attempts at poetry-”

Mina snorted as both Septimus and George nodded enthusiastically.

‟-which is why your brother George helped me with my vows.”

Clarence rolled his eyes and George, a smug look on his face, smiled at everyone and ignored him.

It was a known fact that both of them had been fighting for the precious favorite big brother title during the vast majority of their life and George was feeling as though he had finally won it…

‟ My vows might have turned out a bit funnier than I have first wanted them to be, but here I go anyway…”

Alfred had stars in his eyes as he stared intently at his soulmate. Edward could be reading him the grocery list at this point and he would still think it was poetry.

‟Alfred, since the first day I’ve- Wait, I've forgotten something.” Edward checked his pockets and picked a glasses case from out of one of them.

Alfred looked at him questioningly as he pulled a serious looking pair of black rimmed glasses from out of said glasses case.

‟Edward, since when do you need glasses?”

‟Since your brother Septimus sent me to see and eye doctor a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to surprise you with it…”

Alfred blinked twice. It was way too much for his poor little heart.

‟OMG, you mean you really have to wear those hot looking glasses now?”He gasped loudly, placed a hand on his heart and stared at their celebrant.  ‟Can we fast forward to our wedding night, please?”

Of course, everyone laughed.

Except Frances, who cleared her throat and blushed furiously.

‟I’m sorry to say that we still need to go on with all of the formalities if you want this wedding to be legal and to actually have a proper wedding night.” James replied with a smile as Alfred pouted for joke.

Edward cleared his throat and finally began to read his vows.‟Alfred, since the first day I’ve seen you at work about a year ago,looking all hot and intellectual and like everything I’ve ever wanted in my life, I knew you were special. So special in fact, that I accepted to go on a dancing date with you― _Yes_ , I know― even though I don’t usually do dancing at all. Since that fateful night, I’ve lived so many beautiful things at your side and my love for you has kept on growing. There is no one who can iron shirts like you or manage to find matching outfits in pitch dark every morning as you do. I know you are the one I want to binge watch Netflix with for the rest of my life. At this point, I love you more than I love cardigan sweater season and that means a lot. You are my everything, Alfred ,and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for us. All I know is that you will be there beside me all along the way and I couldn’t ask for more.”

Alfred was absolutely crying at this point and he dabbed at his eyes with his silk handkerchief once more as both Henry and Charlotte were both sniffing loudly in the background.

Mina was unashamedly sobbing loudly and Septimus was lightly patting her back in order to soothe her.

Edward grabbed Alfred’s hand as James began to talk about legal matters and to read some texts about the duties of lawfully wedded partners.

Jr poked George in the ribs.‟Gege, did you brought the rings?”

George frowned. ‟What rings? I thought Mina was supposed to bring them?”

Mina turned around and stared at the older Paget with shock.‟Don’t tell me you forgot those George! I’ve told you I had nowhere to put them in my dress and that you needed to bring them. ”

Septimus shook his head disapprovingly at him. ‟I can’t believe your forgot all about it George.”

George really was sweating by now.

He was panicking. Could they stop the wedding?

He was wondering how long it could take him to get back to their house to fetch said rings when they all snorted and pointed at him.

Septimus winked. ‟Just kidding, you big twat. I have them in my coat pocket.”

Charlotte stared at them all disapprovingly, which forced them to silence.

 Septimus handed the precious rings to Mina, who got up slowly and walked up to the altar.

Alfred stared at her and both shared a tearful but happy smile while James kept on talking.‟ -We are here to unite this man Alfred Paget and this man Edward Drummond in the bonds of matrimony. ” He stared at everyone in the room and then at the happy couple. ‟I am now going to ask you both the most important question of your life...”

Alfred nodded enthusiastically. ‟Ask away James, ask away...”

‟Alfred Henry Paget, do you take Edward Charles Drummond to be your lawfully wedded husband? If so, answer I do.”

‟I do.”

Alfred smiled as he shakily grabbed the ring Mina was handing him and managed to slide it on Edward’s finger.

‟Edward Charles Drummond, do you take Alfred Henry Paget here to be your lawfully wedded husband? If so, answer I do.”

‟I do.”

Edward was feeling so much joy he thought he would die as he slid the engraved ring on Alfred’s finger.

They then both looked at each other lovingly as James went on with the proceedings.

‟Should anyone here present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace. ”

There was a tense silence in the small room as everyone looked at Frances.

Out of all of them, she was the only one that clearly had something against this union in the first place; but she looked at the floor and remained silent.

James looked around the room one last time before he spoke loudly and clearly. ‟I now pronounce you husband and husband.” There was a dramatic pause as some more sobs could be heard all around. ‟And now, the moment we have all been waiting for: the newlyweds may now kiss.”

Alfred and Edward smiled at each other before they kissed and it was oh, so perfect and beautiful.

Everyone cheered and it really was the most wonderful day of their life.

***

After the wedding was over, the newlyweds had walked out of the boathouse hand in hand and had then taken photos outside in the snow.

Richard surprisingly had done some extensive research during the last few days before the wedding and had found cool ideas for said pictures.

The snowstorm had subsided and the Loch was fully frozen, which gave a magical feel to every cliché.

The fact that the wind was a bit cold gave a light rosy glow to Alfred’s cheeks, which made him look even cuter.

Edward’s favorite picture would no doubt be the one Richard had taken of Alfred when the latter had discovered his ring was engraved.

As George had predicted it, Alfred had been so touched by it that he had cried.

After they had spent an hour in the cold, Richard was sure he had taken all the photos he wanted and everyone left for the wedding reception.

While the photos were being taken,  Edward’s aunt had  began to talk with Charlotte and Henry, but Frances had stayed on her own side of the room.

Mina had flashed her a smile and Charlotte had looked at her questioningly, but she did not seem to want to mingle with the Pagets too much.

***

The hotel room where the wedding reception was being held looked incredible.

 It really was a continuity of the theme Alfred had picked for the ceremony.

Chic cream tablecloths were on every tables.

Cream white roses where placed in golden little vases that glinted depending of where the light hit them and string lights were wrapped close to the ceiling all around the room.

Some woolly knitted blankets were placed here and there for the guests with the simple words T _o have and to hold_ hand-stitched on their left corner.

Just to add some more coziness to the room, there was a sophisticated looking hot chocolate bar where guests could choose between three flavors of cocoa and pick marshmallows and cookies and candies to add to their drink.

A massive dance floor was located in the middle of the room, which meant some serious dancing would occur at some point during the soirée.

Francatelli’s cake looked amazing. It was a vanilla and chocolate three tiered cake with some light buttercream on it. Various fruits dusted with granulated sugar were giving the impression they were frozen.

It really was a beautiful masterpiece.

Guests were taking pictures of it and Nancy, who wore a gold cocktail dress, was already taking cake orders for her husband.

Champagne was flowing freely and Princess, who wore a gold sparkly collar and a cute little white bow close to her right ear, seemed very happy to see so many people in the same room.

She was sitting close to Mina, who was talking with everyone. Septimus was at her arm, while George was standing close to them and was glancing around the room.

Clarence seemed to be deep in talk with some of Alfred’s ex-cheerleading friends and George sighed loudly.

Those girls were wasting their time: the only thing Clarence was in love with was his clothe collection and he couldn‘t care less about the rest.

The infamous Victoria and her husband, champagne glass in hand, were excitedly talking with Charlotte and Henry who were very pleased by how the day was going.

George turned around to check if Richard had arrived to the venue, when  Riley Kelly, who was wearing  a plunging neck  green sleeveless dress, walked up towards him with a champagne flute in her hand.

She smiled at him. ‟Seems we always get to meet...How was the ceremony?”

George stared at her and tried his best not to look _too_ dumb in front of her. ‟Riley, you look incredible tonight.”

She smiled but rolled her eyes. ‟Thank you.”

George scratched the back of his head out of nervousness.‟The ceremony was great. It was at my brother’s image : sappy and gay.” He smirked.

‟Where are the newlyweds? ”She frowned as she stared around the room. ‟Which of their names have they picked out?”

‟They’ve hyphenated their names together.” He winked at her. ‟They should be here soon enough. They are probably making out somewhere or something.”

As he was just finishing his sentence, James, the celebrant, who had decided to stay for the soirée to eat some free delicious food, climbed on the little stage that was located in front of the dance floor to introduce the newlyweds.

‟With a love that goes on and on, far beyond pi, these two add up like sine squared plus cosine squared... please stand perpendicular for the one and only Alfred and Edward Paget-Drummond!”

George groaned loudly as everyone cheered loudly for Edward and Alfred who walked into the room hand in hand and were smiling so much one could think they had just won the lottery.‟I can’t believe Drums went with that cheesy line for their official presentation as husbands and Alf agreed to it. ”

Riley laughed. At least she was agreeing with him on something. ‟ I’ll go and congratulate the newlyweds. I’m not planning on staying too late tonight.” George sighed. ‟ Alex is waiting for me back at our flat. He’s a bit sore Alfred will never date him.”  She tiptoed and gave him a peck on the cheek.‟I guess we will see each other at some other time, Paget.”

He gaped as he looked at her leave.

Riley Kelly would be the death of him; he was sure of it.

***

Danielle, Edward’s aunt was getting more and more tipsy as the evening went on. Jeremy, her son, was freaking out as he tried to keep her away from the champagne before she made a fool out of herself.

She was hitting on Mr. Peel and his wife, Julia, did not seem too pleased about it, which was very understandable.

Edward’s head was spinning a bit too as Alfred pulled him left and right to meet some of his friends and oh boy, he was quite the socialite!

He was surprised to meet Victoria who was a very small woman but a tough cookie. She was married with one of her ex-uni teacher , Will Melbourne, and the two were currently living in Germany.

He was distractedly listening to a story about how she and Alfred had sneaked out of one of their classes through a second floor window when he spotted his aunt and his cousin in one of the corner of the room, which reminded him that his mother was here.

In fact, if he was being honest with himself, he was trying to postpone his meeting with her as much as possible.

She too seemed to be avoiding him. Or rather, she seemed to be avoiding everyone.

His cousin Jeremy was the only one who had spoken to her so far and that was only when he wasn’t trying to stop his mom from embarrassing him further more, which hadn’t been much.

Henry did a magnificent speak right before the first course of their glorious meal and he had a choked voice all through it.

He was very emotional and Charlotte had to stop him halfway through his speech because nobody was understanding what he was saying anymore.

The Pagets really were a very welcoming family.

Each table had a brass bell on it and every time someone was ringing it, he and Alfred had to kiss.

Edward really wished the night could end soon so they could finally enjoy their wedding night.

And what a night it would be…

In between the courses, they tried to play the newlywed game, an American game Charlotte and Henry had suggested them and oh boy, Edward wasn’t sure he should have agreed to play to it at all…

At first, it was fun with questions like : _When did you first know you were in love_? or   _Imitate how your spouse behaves when they get angry._

But then, there were some very delicate questions  like : _Have you ever bought anything and kept the purchase a secret from your spouse?_ and such where he had drank a lot of wine to stop himself from answering too much.

Of course, since the Pagets were in charge of the questions, it took a turn for the worst with questions about their sex life in the end. _What does your partner wear to bed?, Who would you say is better when it comes to making love, you or your spouse?_ or finally, _How would you describe your spouse in the bedroom?_

were all asked and he was freaking out.

He realized he probably was drunk and decided to stay away from the champagne when he replied that Alfred was like wildfire in bed since it doesn’t take much to start him but oh boy, does he burn and roar once he is going.

Which honestly was waaaaaaaaaay too much information.

Truth be told, he would probably be mortified every time he would look at his wedding video...

***

About an hour later, when it was finally time to cut the cake, Richard snapped more cute pictures of them and Alfred ended up smashing his piece of cake in Edward's face, which he did not particularly enjoy.

He took his sweet revenge though as he snatched Alfred for a kiss and got cake all over him as well.

George declared it was now time for the first dance and everyone stared at the newlyweds as they walked up to the middle of the dance floor.

The song Alfred had picked, _Never let me go,_ began to play as they positioned themselves on the floor.

Alfred smiled at him. ‟Just follow my lead and we can manage this fairly easily.”

Edward smiled back as he for once did not stomp on his boyfriend’s feet.

Alfred was beaming. ‟You are way better than I remembered it.”

‟I took classes.”

Alfred looked pleasantly surprised. ‟You did? When?”

‟When I said I was staying late at night at work. Some nights I went to dance classes while on others, I’ve met your mum so she could help me buy my wedding clothes because I am rubbish at it. I really can’t do anything without you.”

They kept on dancing as Alfred stared intently at him. ‟Oh, Edward, I love you so much.”

Alfred closed the distance between them as they kissed and swayed to the music.

George groaned loudly. ‟Stop kissing guys, you are supposed to dance, not to make out.”

Edward was better at dancing but it still wasn’t his cup of tea. Soon, he went to the edge of the dance floor and gladly stared at his husband who was gliding on the floor with Mina at first and with his friend Victoria afterwards.

The two looked amazing together and pulled extremely difficult dance moves. Will Melbourne walked up to him and they both looked at their respective partner with pride and there was no other word for it : lust.

Henry and Charlotte were also dancing in the background and seemed to be having an awesome time.

Edward went to fetch a glass of water for Mina, who had taken her shoes off and was slowly dozing in her boyfriend’s arms, when he felt someone nudge at his shoulder.

It was his mother.

It seemed the conversation he had tried to avoid during the whole night was finally bound to happen.

He tried to keep a blank expression on his face as Frances avoided his gaze.

‟Congratulations. You seem very happy, ” she said as she stood next to him.

He kept on staring at Alfred, who was now foxtrotting with Victoria.‟Probably because I am.”

‟I can see that.” She sighed.‟I’m still not on board with this relationship of yours.”

Edward clenched his jaw and was about to retort something, when she kept on talking.‟Your husband really has some good taste. The decoration of this place is amazing and he is a very handsome boy. I’ll go now. I don’t want to bother you anymore, but we will talk later son, I swear. ”

She kissed him on the cheek and walked out of the room with Jeremy in her steps.

The latter was trying to drag his mom out too, but she was very reluctant since she was still trying to get Clarence’s phone number. It was all really really awkward...

Edward sighed as he watched them leave. At least things were improving.

***

It was close to two in the morning when Edward and Alfred finally made it back to the boathouse, drunk on love more than on champagne.

Their wedding day had been fantastic, but he really was knackered and by judging by the way Alfred was yawning and tilting his head, it seemed this wedding would probably be consummated the next day; which was perfectly fine with him.

After all, they had a week to themselves in the middle of nowhere in a three room house lost in the snow and judging by the lack of outdoor clothes Alfred had packed, sex, sex and more sex definitively was in his plans.

He took a quick shower and as he walked back into the tiny bedroom, he saw Alfred was already almost asleep, all curled up in blankets in the middle of the bed.

Edward closed the light and joined him under the covers, Alfred automatically snuggling against him.

The wind was howling outside, which was very soothing in a way. He grabbed Alfred’s left hand, kissed his ring and then kissed him on the top of his head. His hair was soft and he smelt really good; a mix of cologne and of cake. 

He was already asleep as Edward shuffled a bit and carefully wrapped the blankets around them.

‟ Goodnight, my husband ”, he whispered as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.


	19. Epilogue : Baby Paget

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello, baby Paget! :D

‟Oh god, can you tell me why we are watching this crazy movie again?”

Alfred winces as he looks at the TV screen.

School is off for a week and he is sitting down on the couch with his husband. Both are wrapped in a plaid blanket that has been knitted by Violet, their neighbor, who gave it to them as a wedding gift last November.

They have been married for barely three months, yet they already are the epitome of domestic bliss.

The couple is watching a horror movie while a snowstorm is raging outside;  something Alfred tries not to do on a regular basis because he really is a big wimp when it comes to scary stuff.

He doesn’t like to show this side of him too much though, so he bravely tries to bear through it without screaming or glancing over his shoulder too much.

Barely thirty minutes in the movie, Alfred already  knows he probably won’t be able to sleep for the next three nights and will definitely keep a light on in the restroom for the rest of his life.

‟I think George recommended this movie to Septimus, who then recommended it to us. ” Edward replies as he innocently pulls his boyfriend closer.

The latter is already almost sitting on his lap, which is how they usually watch TV.

 He, of course, picked that crazy movie knowing full well his boyfriend would be all scared and cuddly for the rest of the evening―a perfect mix for a steamy end of night.

Not that Alfred needed much to get in the mood anyway…

The latter is already scared to the point where he hides his eyes with his hands to avoid looking directly at the screen.‟Oh yes, sounds like something he clearly would do.” Alfred sighs. ‟The big coward is out on a date with Riley once more tonight, so I won’t be able to go over to his place and to tell him to stop recommending crappy films to us.”

 Edward nods and sneaks his hands in the back of his boyfriend’s shirt.

He honestly couldn’t care less about the movie in the first place and has stopped watching it after five minutes.

He began to nuzzle at the back of his husband’s neck just as some busty girls are heading out in the woods at nightfall on the screen.

Alfred shudders. ‟I can’t look at this. Those idiots are going to get killed if th- Can you do that again, please?” He shudders once more, but this time, it has nothing to do with the movie.

Edward is slightly biting at the sensitive spot close to his left ear and he can feel himself turn all warm and fuzzy…

Of course, as the movie’s protagonists are being chased down by a dangerous murderer, Alfred decides he’s done with this horror movie and is all in for a make out session instead…

He turns around, wraps his arms around Edward’s neck and voilà, the film is a thing of the past…

In fact, things are heading out quite well until Septimus’ voice can clearly be heard from the inside staircase of their shared house.

‟ALFRED!”

 A pause.

‟ALLLLLLLFRED,”Septimus calls back with more insistence.

The latter pulls reluctantly away from Edward, who clearly would like to resume their kissing and groping as soon as possible.‟What is it?” He manages to say as his husband is fumbling with the button of his fancy new jeans.

‟ THE BABY IS COMING!” Septimus replies as he slams the upstairs door shut.

Needless to say, in the blink of an eye, Alfred was out of breath and on his doorstep.

He quickly turns the handle and walks in.

His brother’s  place is a bit messy, which is very unusual.

Septimus seems rather calm as he runs from  one room to the other and packs some last minute items in Mina’s gigantic hospital bag.

Edward, who has followed his husband upstairs, freezes in the living room as he wonders what he should do next.

This is all new and unsettling to him and the fact that he can hear Mina breath and groan loudly from the restroom is a bit too much to handle.

 Alfred automatically runs to her while Edward is still standing there and pondering what he should do next…

 

Alfred frowns as he quickly spots Mina who is laying on her side on the restroom floor.

 Princess is at her side and is looking at her aunt with concern. She knows something is wrong, but she does not know what to do.

Alfred, both sensible and sensitive, spots at once his best friend is covered in sweat and is in great pain. He quickly grabs a wet towel and kneels down next to her.

‟What does it feel like?” He asks as he applies the towel to the back of her neck.

Mina sighs and closes her eyes as she braces herself for the next contraction.  Those are getting more painful by the minute now... ‟This simply is the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life...” 

Alfred gives her a kiss on the top of her head. ‟You can do this. You’ll pop my godson out in no time, you’ll see.”

***

The ride to the hospital was extremely short.

Septimus is a good driver and even though there is a snowstorm, they manage to get there in less than 25 minutes.

As soon as they arrived, Alfred exited the car and walked Mina to the maternity ward, while Septimus parked the car.

 

Twenty minutes later, while he’s alone in the maternity ward’s waiting room, Edward calls Henry and Charlotte to tell them what is going on.

The overexcited future grandparents naturally declare they are on their way and will be there in about three hours, which Edward thinks is quite a long time to get here.

The baby will probably be born by then…

He is glad all he has to do is to wait for this ordeal to be over with.

 As he spots two other white faced husbands who are escorting their wives-who are both crying and yelling― to the maternity ward, he sighs with relief.

Thank god, he is gay and will never have to experience this in his life!

Ten minutes later, George, who it seemed Alfred had manage to text even though he had been at Mina’s side for the last hour or so, ended up in the waiting room with him.

Every once in a while, either Septimus or Alfred came out to give them the latest news.

Around midnight, Mina had finally received the epidural, which was magic, she said.

Getting that sharp needle in her back had been the best thing she had ever said yes to and she was extremely thankful for it’s invention.

***

It was now close to two in the morning and yet there was still no sign of baby Paget still...

The only update was that Henry and Charlotte had made it safely to the hospital.

Upon their arrival, Charlotte had joined her two sons in the birthing room while Henry had sat down next to Gege and him.

George yawned as the clock struck three. ‟I had no idea it took so long for a baby to be born.”

His father, who, let it be remembered, had seven kids, flashed him a smile.‟First one is always the  longest to be born. It took your mother 23 hours to birth you, George, whereas Alfred was there in fifteen minutes.” Henry winked at Drums. ‟ Alf was born in the master bathroom and to this day, it is still the most stressful thing I have ever experienced in my life.”

George snorted as Edward seemed terrified by the prospect of it.

‟I bet it was.” Chimed in another man who was sitting close to them.

Talk about men solidarity.

***

Around five, Charlotte excitedly hotfooted it to the waiting room to give them news.

George had passed out and was snoring loudly while Henry was scrolling on his phone.

Edward was looking at a boring show that was playing on the TV without great interest.

It was a soap in Gaelic and he couldn’t understand a word of it…

‟The baby is here.” Charlotte said with a smile on her face and in her voice. ‟I’ve come to fetch you all to meet Andrew Septimus Paget who has just made his grand entry into the world.”

 

Five minutes later, they were all crammed into Mina’s room and both her and Septimus looked extremely proud as everyone stared at their newborn.

Edward looked at the tiny precious little sleeping newborn that was Andrew and he could actually feel his heart melt.

Andrew looked so small and so peaceful in his mother’s arms…

 Alfred was sitting at Mina’s side and he seemed extremely moved.

Edward patted him on the shoulder while Charlotte and Henry were taking pictures of the new baby.

Alfred rested his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder.‟Have you seen how adorable he is? My godson is the most precious thing I have ever seen in my life.” He wiped a tear at the corner of his eye.‟I’m sorry, but I’m a bit of an emotional mess right now.”

George rolled his eyes. ‟As if you aren’t at all times…”

***

The nurses frowned at them after twenty minutes and asked them all to leave.

The Pagets had a tendency to be overwhelming anyway and Mina clearly needed to rest .

As Edward and Alfred walked out of the room, George, Charlotte and Henry in tow, Alfred linked arms with his husband.

Edward turned to him.‟Babe, I’ve been thinking.”

‟About what?”

‟About how I’ve told you we would never have a baby of our own…”

Alfred quirked an eyebrow at him‟And?”

‟Well, I’ve changed my mind.” He smiled.

Alfred blinked twice.‟You did?”

Edward nodded as Alfred grinned and they kissed right there in the middle of the corridor.

George rolled his eyes and walked past them as Henry and Charlotte were busy looking at the hundred of pictures of their grandson they had just taken in the background.

One day, the Paget-Drummond family would grow and Alfred couldn’t be happier about it.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this crazy fic. Of course, I can’t shut up…Stay tuned for the next two installements in the Domestic Bliss series: a two-parts for Halloween called When Trick or Treating goes Wrong and a follow-up to For Better that will be called Happily Ever After, where Alf really gets to stroll around with a designer diaper bag on his shoulder and a costly pram, since his husband has decided they should get a baby of their own.  
> Comments and Kudos means LIFE!


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